The Maelstrom and Deathberry
by Rocker1600
Summary: Naruto is dead. He defeated Tobi and saved Sasuke, but will not live to see the results... or so it seems. Along with Kurama, he is sent to the Soul Society where he will meet new allies, face new enemies, and gain new powers with one goal in mind: To go back home. No pairings in this story!
1. Prologue

**The Maelstrom and Deathberry**

**Part 1: A Boy, a Demon, and a Blade**

Opening Song: "Blue Bird" Ikimono-Gakari (Naruto Shippuden) 

Ending Song: "For You" by Azu (Naruto Shippuden)

A/N: This is my first story (and my first crossover), so while I appreciate honest opinions of this work please be reasonable in the temperament of your criticisms.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and Bleach.

**Prologue**

Shinobi Quote:

"We are humans... . We don't know what kind of people we truly are until the moment before our deaths. As death comes to embrace you, you will realise what you are. That's what death is, don't you think?"-Itachi Uchiha

Naruto Uzumaki woke up to find that he was lying in sea of white light; as he sat up he could hear Kurama, usually known as the Nine-Tailed Fox, saying something.

"_I guess our time has ended_" the tailed beast said matter-of-factly to which

"_I guess so._" Naruto replied; he then smiled and said, "_Thank you, Kurama; thank you for sticking with me even in death._" Kurama simply replied with a subtle "_Hmmph._"

Naruto then began collecting his thoughts about had happened until then. It had all happened so quickly; after he had freed the Bijuu and their Jinchuriki from Tobi's grasp. He then proceeded to end the battle, despite the protests from the rest of the Konoha 11; before he had approached Tobi, however, a redeemed Sasuke, who had taken a near fatal blow meant for Naruto after Sasuke's brother Itachi revealed the actual truth regarding the Uchiha clan and Konoha, said "Naruto, please come back alive or not at all." Naruto agreed to do so before finally engaging Tobi while everyone in the Shinobi Alliance, who were too exhausted to continue fighting, fell back. Tragically, in order to finally defeat Tobi and stop his threat to the world, Naruto was forced to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to win the battle.

Now he was preparing to see his mom and dad again in the afterlife. As he waited, Naruto thought to himself, "_Even though I didn't become Hokage, I was still able to protect my friends; I can move with at only one regret._" He then thought to himself "_Though I wish I could I still be with them…"_

All of a sudden the sea of white around Naruto exploded in blinding flash before Naruto even had a chance to react; he didn't know yet, but his desire to protect the bonds he had gained would give him new powers and a "second chance"…

Next Time - Chapter One: Arrival and Meeting


	2. 1: Arrival and Meeting

**Chapter 1: Arrival and Meeting**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and/or Bleach

[Captain's Assembly Hall, Seireitei, Soul Society]

The captains of Gotei 13 were anxious about this next meeting; the meeting was announced so suddenly and with such urgency that no one spoke a word for what appeared to be hours. They had good reason to be concerned; the recent betrayal of Sosuke Aizen, Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tosen has caused massive unrest throughout the Soul Society. The tension was elevated a few hours before this meeting when the largest surge of Spiritual Pressure ever recorded in the history of the Soul Society appeared on Mt. Koifushi with no explanation as to why this was happening; as if to complicate things, the spiritual energy on the mountain began to move, along with an unknown energy. The energy then vanished, or was being suppressed by its owner; the captains were still not sure.

The silence permeated the room and not even the Head-Captain, a physically built but very old man named Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, would say anything, which caused further anxieties among the captains; this silence ended as the door to their meeting place burst open and took people came in. One of them was a petite woman with pale skin, violet eyes and black hair, while the other was a fairly tall and lean teenage boy with brown eyes, peach skin and orange hair; his face is usually set in a permanent scowl and his eyebrows drawn together, though he was too exhausted to do anything but gasp for air. These two Soul Reapers were well known among the Gotei 13 and the captains realized that these two were responsible for this meeting.

Yamamoto said to the two, "Ichigo, Rukia, you two arrived even sooner than I expected."

Ichigo was out of breath so he spoke while gasping for air. "I got here…. as soon… as I told you … of his arrival…."

"Settle down Ichigo, and catch your breath," Yamamoto replied.

The other captains were now completely confused, so Yamamoto turn his attention to explaining the purpose of this meeting, "There is a new soul that will be arriving; it is extremely important that we locate him and bring him here, for he will be trained as a Soul Reaper."

Soifon, one of the more prideful captains, scoffed at the Head-Captain before asking, "How do we know if he will even have the spiritual energy needed to become a Soul Reaper?"

"You have already felt his power; it is the source of both the spiritual pressure and the other energy that appeared on Mt. Koifushi," Yamamoto stated, shocking everyone in the room except for Rukia and Ichigo, and for good reason; the amount of power emanating from the mountain was greater than of every person in this room, along with the three traitorous captains, put together.

Another one of the captains, Toshiro Hitsugaya, asked with obvious interest, "Who is this soul?"

"The kid's name is Naruto Uzumaki; Ichigo told me about a dream he had in which he saw him and twelve other teenagers (A/N: Sasuke, Sai, Sakura, and the rest of the Konoha 11)." The reply came from Rukia, catching everyone off guard. What she would say next would shock the usually unflinching captains.

"He's a ninja from the Chakra Realm (A/N: that what the Reapers call Naruto's world, for obvious reasons)" Rukia stated. After a few moments of silence, the shock finally surfaced on the faces of the captains, as it finally became clear what this was about.

Byakuya Kuchiki, Rukia's adoptive brother-in-law, was the one to state this significance.

"The Sage of the Six Paths Reincarnate," he said, to which Yamamoto nodded.

"We must locate him quickly; inform your lieutenants of the soul we're looking for, but not of his identity," Yamamoto declared before splitting the captains, minus himself and Mayuri Kurotsuchi (Yamamoto was determined not to let this soul end up as one of Mayuri's test subjects), into search parties; Ichigo and Rukia accompanying Byakuya and Kenpachi Zaraki.

Before the teams set out, Ichigo was asked to give a description of Naruto as he saw him in his dream.

Ichigo said, "He has blonde hair, blues eyes, wears an orange and black tracksuit as well as a black headband with a piece of metal on it emblazoned with a stylized leaf. He is about my age, is a little shorter than me, and has three whisker marks on both of his cheeks; he also smiles constantly, though his smile is more warm and reassuring than Gin's."

The teams, satisfied with this description, scattered across the Soul Society to Naruto.

[Junrinan District, West Rukongai, Soul Society]

"_We're lost, Kurama,_" Naruto said with a clear amount of frustration in his voice.

"_Don't blame me; this course of action wasn't my idea,_" Kurama replied.

"_This place….. this might not even be our dimension._"

"_Wait a minute Kurama. Are… are you serious?_" Naruto asked, however, had a feeling this would be the case; he realized that this place was devoid of any chakra. Instead he felt a similar type of energy, though it is much more powerful than any chakra he had ever felt. He even felt a massive amount within himself, along with a voice that calls to him now and again.

In any case he was still baffled by what he had seen up until now. After the blinding light occurred, he apparently woke up on top of a mountain surrounded by what appeared to be a massive town.

Naruto noticed that there was a massive walled complex at what appeared to be the center of the town; he figured that someone in there could tell him what he was doing here. Unfortunately he still couldn't find a gate that would allow him to enter. He wandered through the streets of the neighborhood before coming upon a clearing.

Walking through the open space, Naruto was still wondering what had happened when he heard the voice inside of him again, this time he could make out the voice as a young female.

"_Naruto, you're in terrible danger; to your left…" _warned the mysterious voice.

Before Naruto could say anything, he suddenly felt a dark and menacing presence at least 20 yards away and closing fast. Acting fast, Naruto jumped backwards just in time to dodge a hand that appeared to have attempted to pierce his abdomen.

Naruto took a good look at his assailant as he his assailant turned to look at him; it was a slightly built male, with green eyes, messy black hair, and with skin as pale as Orochimaru's. The man had teal-colored marks that resembled tears and what appeared to be part of a broken horned mask on top of his head; the man was wearing a white jacket with a black sash and had a massive hole on his neck.

"Who or what are you?" the young ninja asked with intense rage as he took a defensive stance.

The man, with a frown on his face that Naruto realized hadn't changed, simply looked at him before speaking with voice that felt cold and aloof to Naruto.

"My name is Ulquiorra Cifer. I am an Espada, and I am under orders from my commander to capture you," he stated rather nonchalantly. Being hunted for the spirit of Kurama when he was alive, Naruto understood what he meant; this only enraged him even further.

"I don't know what an Espa…Espada is…." Naruto stated before he proclaimed that, "….but I'm not going anywhere with you. And I promise you that I never go back on my word, Cifer!"

While Ulquiorra was a "person" that may not have understood what the "human heart" is or why people fought on against all odds, he did understand that this person had no intention of coming with him peacefully; since he had no way to force Naruto to comply, Ulquiorrs was forced to use more brutal methods.

"Very well then; prepare yourself for battle," Ulquiorra calmly stated.

"_Here_ _he's comes; I hope you're ready to fight as well Kurama, _" Naruto thought as he ready himself for a tough fight. It would never occur.

The view of his attacker was suddenly blocked by four figures. Two of them faced the attacker while the other two restrained Naruto. One of them had slate grey eyes and black hair set with unusual hair pieces, while the other was a large man with stringy black hair, one green eye with the other covered by an eyepatch, and a thin scar running down the left side of his face. Naruto noticed that all of them were wearing black kimonos, with the two who had held him back wearing white haoris on top of their kimonos.

Ulquiorra, having been ordered to return to Hueco Mundo without Naruto if he was intercepted by any Soul Reapers, simply said "It appears I'm done here." As he opened a Garganta, Ulquiorra said to the young ninja, "We will meet again."

He then disappeared without a trace. "_What happened?_" was the first thought running through Naruto's mind as the two men let him go.

The other two then turned around to face Naruto ; one was a girl with black hair and violet eyes, and the other was a guy with orange and brown eyes. They appeared to be about his age.

"Are you okay, Naruto Uzumaki?" Ichigo asked, knowing that had found him at last.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock at this guy's question; after a few seconds Naruto replied with his own question.

"Who are you people? And how do you know my name?"

Next time – Chapter Two: The Explanation


	3. 2: The Explanation

**Chapter 2: The Explanation**

A/N #1: I apologize for the delay; I was busy watching and celebrating the Miami Heat winning the NBA finals and, as such, totally forgot about my story for quite a while.

A/N #2: For those of you who have asked, I have no intention of making any pairings in this story (in my honest opinion, Shounen mangas and romance don't mix).

A/N #3: Interactions between Bleach and Naruto Characters (except, of course, for Naruto himself and a few characters whom I will not mention yet) won't occur until Part 3 of the story; the majority of the first two parts will be centered in the Bleach universe (though I will mention what events are occuring in the Naruto universe from time to time).

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and/or Bleach.

[Junrinan District, West Rukongai, Soul Society]

Ichigo looked at Naruto with his usual "detached" expression before he replied.

"I'll take that as a yes. As for your question, my name is Ichigo Kurosaki, and the girl is next to me is Rukia Kuchiki. I guess you already met Byakuya and Kenpachi." Ichigo pointed at the two who restrained Naruto when he told him their names, so the young ninja knew who was named what.

This lessened Naruto's shock, but the young ninja was still not satisfied with the guy's answer. "You still haven't told me how you know my name."

"I'll do you one better." The reply came from Rukia; her reply got her Naruto's attention. "If you come with us, we'll tell you why you're here, and help you get back home."

Naruto looked at the "young" girl, first with shock, then with suspicion. Even though he was not known for his intelligence, he wasn't entirely naïve; he had to be sure that this wasn't some sort of trap.

"Why should I trust you people?"

"You seem to have forgotten that we just saved your life." The reply came from the man with the gray eyes, whom Ichigo had called Byakuya; his voice was not as cold as Cifer's, but he still sounded too formal for Naruto's liking. Naruto also realized that Byakuya looked at him as though he might have known who he was, though Naruto, in an unusually smart decision, decided to not test him or the other three any further. He still didn't know what had happened to him and these people may be his best chance to find some answers.

"You've got a good point there. Alright, I come with you guys," Naruto exclaimed.

Ichigo was relieved that he didn't have to chase him down. "Then follow us, and try not to wander off; this is a pretty big place."

"_No kidding; I still don't know how someone can find their way around here._" Naruto thought to himself, his eyes narrowed as he was lost in his thoughts.

Ichigo began walking towards the walled complex along with Rukia, with Naruto walking in between them. Ichigo looked back and realized that neither Byakuya nor Kenpachi were following.

"You two aren't coming?" Ichigo asked with some concern.

With a clear indifference to Ichigo's worries, Byakuya simply replied said he was going to look around to see if he could find any information on Naruto's would-be abductor. "I need to find how a Hollow was able to infiltrate this deep into the Soul Society."

Naruto overheard the conversation and, being as clueless as ever, interrupted the two.

"What's a Hollow? I thought that creep called himself an Espada, whatever that is."

That immediately got the two captain's attention. Kenpachi was, uncharacteristically, especially taken aback by this revelation. "Did you just say an Espada, kid?"

Naruto knew there was something more to his attacker than he realized, but he still didn't understand entirely. "That's what that Cifer called himself. Is it such a big deal?"

Byakuya simply told Ichigo to report this matter to the Head-Captain when he got there, to which Ichigo agreed to do.

"I guess that's enough talk; it's time we got moving," exclaimed Ichigo as he and Rukia headed to the nearest gate in order to enter into Seireitei.

Naruto, who had allowed his own mind to wander, suddenly realized he was about to be left behind and took off after the two Soul Reapers while yelling.

"Wait for me!" he yelled in a childish manner.

As the three got out of sight from the two captains, Kenpachi turned his attention to Byakuya.

"You know how lucky you are that the brat mentioned about an Espada, right? Otherwise that face you gave would have led to a fight," Kenpachi said with his usual sneer.

Byakuya appeared to agree with the battle-loving 11th Division Captain, something that almost never happened. "It may still come to that; we'll just have to see if he finds out and how he responds." He then told Kenpachi, "I hope he takes after his father."

Byakuya's concerns were not without merit, for he had met the young ninja before, and not in the best of circumstances.

[Captain-Commander's Yamamoto's Office, Seireitei, Soul Society]

"_This office is even bigger than Grandma Tsunade's_," Naruto thought as he entered the office of the Gotei 13's leader. He was still amazed at what he already seen.

After entering the walled complex, Naruto was amazed by the splendor of the buildings, which he heard were part of the Seireitei, with polished walls made of some white stone and their massive size. He was also surprised by the people he had seen; like the two people he came with, they all wore black kimonos and, though Naruto hadn't noticed it until then, different blades. The man that stood before him was no exception.

It was an old man with a long white beard, long white eyebrows, and two noticeable scars above his right eye; it was his immense power, however, that really surprised Naruto, as it surpasses all the chakra levels he had seen back home. As the man began to speak, Naruto noticed that the man's eyes are partially closed.

"You both did well," the old man said to both Rukia and Ichigo before turning to the young ninja and. "And welcome to the Soul Society, Naruto Uzumaki. I'm sure you have many questions."

"Thank you, sir," Naruto said with a grin on his face.

He then continued, "And yeah, I have a lot of questions; for starters, what's the Soul Society?"

Yamamoto didn't appear surprised by the young boy's reaction, compared to the surprise of the two Soul Reapers.

"The Soul Society is the afterlife in our dimension and home to us Soul Reapers; you apparently entered this realm after you died," Yamamoto replied.

"_So we are dead,_" Naruto thought to himself (A/N: he is also referring to Kurama); after arriving at this place, he didn't know if he was dead or just having a weird dream. Naruto then realized that the old man mentioned something else that he had never heard of.

"A Soul Reaper; what's that?" Naruto asked, as he assumed it may have been some type of weird monk; this would not be the case.

"May I explain this to him, Head-Captain? I think it would be easier for him to understand if it was explained to him in small words," asked Rukia, to which the leader of the Gotei 13 simply nodded.

Naruto turned his attention to Rukia as she explained to him about the existence of Soul Reapers, what they do, and of their abilities (A/N: I did not want to have a full dialogue in this part of the story; too time-consuming); Ichigo was simply relieved that Rukia hadn't used her crappy drawings to "help" explain all this to Naruto. Upon hearing Rukia's explanation regarding the Zanpakuto, Naruto immediately realized something very important.

"Wait a minute, I've been hearing a voice of a woman inside me; could that voice be my Zanpakuto?" Naruto asked; the Reapers were somewhat taken aback by this.

"Are… are you sure about that, Naruto?" Ichigo asked the young Jinchuriki.

"Well, I clearly heard a voice in me and it wasn't Kurama's; so yeah, I'm pretty sure," said Naruto, shrugging off their surprise.

"Right… Kurama," Ichigo said before coming to his senses.

"Kurama? Who's Kurama?" Ichigo asked with obvious confusion, to which Yamamoto responded that he would get the answer to that question soon.

"Now that Rukia finished explaining about us Soul Reapers I will now explain why you are here, Naruto." Yamamoto declared. "Now I am sure you know about the Sage of the Six Paths (A/N: The Sage will only be mentioned in passing) and about his Rinnegan?"

"Yeah, but what does he have to do with this?" Naruto asked.

Yamamoto, acting as if he was oblivious to the young Jinchuriki's questions, continued with his story.

"The Sage had an unusual ability thanks to his Rinnegan which, unlike the others, he never revealed to anyone in your world; he was able to travel across different dimensions, including ours," Yamamoto said, clearly amused by Naruto's reaction.

"_Kurama, did you know about this?_" Naruto said to the tailed beast.

"_I'm just as surprised as you are, Naruto; he must have stopped using that ability before he created us._" Kurama was rather surprised that the Old Man Six Paths (A/N: that's what Kurama called the Sage in the manga) would even have this ability, and more so that he wouldn keep it under wraps.

Yamamoto decided to continue on with the story. "During his time here, Sage was instrumental in putting down a major rebellion in the Soul Society hundreds of years ago; as a sign of our gratitude, we agreed to do something for him. The Sage told us that one day someone who had inherited his will would come to the Soul Society; he asked us to train that person to become a Soul Reaper and to allow this person to return to their world."

It took Naruto a long while before he put the pieces together and realized what the old man was trying to tell him.

"Wait a minute; are you saying that I'm…." Naruto received a nod from Yamamoto before he could finish his question.

"The fact that you still have chakra confirms this."

Ichigo suddenly interrupted the conversation.

"Old Man Yama, before you continue, can you explain why the hell me and Rukia are still here?"

"I was actually getting to that, Ichigo Kurasaki," Yamamoto said a clear amount of irritation in his voice.

"Naruto, how would you like to train to become a Soul Reaper?"

Naruto answered without any hesitation; his friends back home were like a family to him, and he would do anything for them. He was now being offered a chance to go back to be with his friends and, being Naruto, he was not going let this opportunity go.

"_I'll be back soon, guys; just wait for a bit,_" Naruto thought to himself.

Yamamoto then turned his attention to Ichigo.

"Kurosaki, I am entrusting you with Naruto Uzumaki's training."

"Whaaaaaaaat?" Naruto and Ichigo said simultaneously, with both of their eyes widened in shock.

Ichigo managed to compose himself first. "Why do I have to train him? Summer vacation ended last month; how am I going to find the time to train this kid?" He was clearly enraged by this command.

"Kid? I'm around the same age as you, damn it!" Naruto roared back at Ichigo.

"Silence!" Yamamoto roared, successfully quieting both Naruto and Ichigo by releasing his menacing spiritual pressure; Naruto and even Kurama gained a healthy, and easily justified, fear of the Gotei 13 leader from that time forward.

"That fact that his coming here was revealed to you means you are to have a part in this, Ichigo Kurosaki. Besides, you still have the mod soul, don't you?" Yamamoto said, his voice clearly trying to contain his irritation.

"_So he knows about Kon,_" Ichigo thought; he finally agreed to train the young ninja when Yamamoto assured Ichigo that Kisuke and Yoruichi would help him.

"Any more questions?" Yamamoto asked the three souls; they apparently did not.

"Very well then; Naruto, please go with Ichigo and Rukia."

Naruto simply nodded. As the three walked out of the office, Ichigo stopped again.

"What's wrong, Ichigo?" Naruto asked the Substitute Soul Reaper; he gotten comfortable enough with these two Reapers to use their actual names.

Ichigo said "I need to say one more thing to Old Man Yama; just wait here for a few minutes, alright?" before he re-entered the office. Five minutes later, Ichigo came out of the office.

"Alright then, let's go back home." Ichigo said before he, Rukia, and Naruto headed to Ichigo's hometown, which Ichigo called Karakura Town.

After the two Reapers and the Reaper-in-training left the Soul Society, Yamamoto met with a few of the Captains who had returned from the Rukongai after they were informed of the ninja's retrieval. Yamamoto gave them a debriefing regarding Naruto as well as the run-in with the Espada.

Captain Sajin Komamura was the first to voice his concerns. "The fact that any Arrancar could infiltrate the Soul Society is very disturbing in it of itself, but if Aizen is targeting young Naruto, then he may have begun to make his next move against us; wouldn't it make more sense to train him here?"

Yamamoto sighed and replied to the 7th Division in a rather weary tone; dealing with Ichigo was tiring enough for the 2,000 year-old captain, but dealing with him and Naruto at the same time was enough to apparently drain his spiritual pressure en masse.

"While your concerns are not without merit Captain Komamura, that is something we cannot do right now; it appears that Ichigo has been chosen by fate to be his mentor and, being a human, he cannot stay here for very long periods of time. We're just going to have to leave it to Ichigo and his friends to protect Naruto."

This statement unnerved the assembled Captains, because while Ichigo and his friends were more than capable of handling themselves, the threat of Aizen posed towards the Soul Society was already great as it is; if the traitor got his hands on Naruto, all might be lost…..

Next Time – Chapter Three: The Training Begins!

A/N #4: For such a long wait and possibly long Chapter, there is no action in it; not worry however, as that will change starting next chapter. You will also see a flashback of the dream Ichigo had; it might be a little cliched, but hey; it was bound to happen.


	4. Flashback Chapter: The Dream of Fate

**Flashback Chapter – The Dream of Fate**

A/N #1: This chapter talks about the dream that Ichigo had regarding Naruto; while it may seem a little boring and clichéd, this was something that I was going to do eventually.

A/N #2: I originally planned to post this with the third chapter simultaneously; as many people have asked me to update soon, however, I have decided to publish this chapter now. Chapter 3 will be posted in 5-7 days.

A/N #3: If my title sounds bad, I apologize for it but I couldn't think of anything else.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and/or Bleach; they are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and Tite Kubo, respectively.

[Kurosaki Residence, Karakura Town, Human Realm]

_One month earlier…._

Ichigo, exhausted from his "invasion" of the Soul Society, immediately went to bed after having to dodge an ambush from Isshin, his father (again). His thoughts soon began to revolve around his last opponent: Sosuke Aizen. The traitor to the Soul Society had mentioned his goals in such a cryptic message that its' meaning began to torment the Substitute Soul Reaper.

"_No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it._" Those words were spoken to another captain, a man named Jūshirō Ukitake, yet they still troubled Ichigo and almost prevented him from sleeping. Aizen's words, however, would not be the main focus of his anxieties that night.

After a couple of hours, Ichigo finally managed to close his eyes and fall asleep. Moments later Ichigo opened his eyes, expecting to see the tall skyscrapers of his spiritual state; what he saw was, however, something far different.

He was sitting on large tree branch at the edge of a forest with what could only be a massive crater in front of him. At the center of the crater was what appeared to be a single human figure; he wore what appeared to be light purple mask.

Ichigo, in his confusion, almost failed to hear a voice that sounded like it was close by. Ichigo followed the voice until he found its source: 13 people, who appeared to be around his age. 12 of them were facing the 13th. One of those twelve began to speak; it was a male with long dark brown hair and white featureless eyes.

"You can't face Tobi by yourself; your weakened state will only mean certain death!" All but three of the other 11 began to protest what appeared to be a decision by the 13th person to fight the mysterious man on his own. Ichigo took a look at the 13th person, another male; he had short spiky blonde hair and blue eyes. The guy wore an orange and black jumpsuit, though what made him stand out in Ichigo's eyes were the whisker marks on his cheeks and a black head band with a piece of metal sewn on it; Ichigo noticed that the metal had what appeared to be an image of a stylized leaf engraved in it. The kid sighed before he spoke.

"I'm sorry, guys, but this is something I have to do on my own. I promised my mom and dad that I would stop this guy, not matter what it takes; I don't want you to see what might happen."

The other twelve were shocked by this revelation; despite this, however, the brown-haired guy was about to continue his argument until another one of the figures appeared to block his path. Ichigo realized that this person was a female; she had large green eyes and, much to Ichigo's surprise, bright pink hair that resembled Yachiru's, though it was spikier than that of the Squad 11 lieutenant.

"_And people thought my hair was weird._" Ichigo thought to himself; he decided to refocus on what was happening.

"Neji, I don't think there is anything more we can do to change his mind. We're just going to have to let him fight this one on his own this time." The pink-haired girl said this while attempting to hide, rather poorly, her reluctance to doing so, as if she was hoping that her statement was incorrect. At this point, another guy entered the argument; this one had long jet black hair tied in a spiky ponytail and narrow brown eyes.

"What are you doing, Sakura? Of all of us I was hoping that you could convince him to stop…." The argument was cut short when the ground began to vibrate. The source of the shaking was none other than the blonde haired person.

"Seal!" He yelled while he placed his left hand flat on the ground; a few seconds later a massive cage-like structure, made out of interlocking toriis, appeared and surrounded him and everything in the giant crater. With the gaps between the toriis were covered by some energy barrier, the guy had effectively cut off the other 12, who appeared to be his friends, from the coming battle.

The black-haired guy was enraged. "Are you insane, Naruto Uzumaki? You separated us from the battle," he yelled; the awkwardness Ichigo sensed in his voice came, he realized, from the fact this guy didn't use "Naruto's" full name that much.

"That's the idea, Shikamaru," Naruto replied, receiving anxious expression the faces from the others. At this point, a guy with black hair, black eyes, and a pale skin tone turned to whisper to Sakura; after he finished what he was saying, Sakura nodded and turned to face the rest of the people.

"You guys should get going," she said; it appeared that the 12 were about to protest when they, and Ichigo, heard someone say "Could you guys just stop arguing already?"

They faced the one who said this, a guy who looked similar to the one whispered to Sakura, though this one had longer hair and a fairer skin tone. Ichigo also noticed that he had been badly injured and could barely stand, with one wound appearing to have just missed his heart.

"Sakura, Sai, and I wish to speak with Naruto alone; I'm sure you guys understand," he said, before the guy called Shikamaru nodded. Shikamaru, along with 8 of the others, finally left, though most of them clearly hesitated when doing so; the only ones who remained with Naruto were Sakura, and two guys. The guy who spoke with Sakura was there so Ichigo, who was watching the event unfold, concluded that he was the one called Sai.

The three who had stayed behind tried one last time to convince Naruto to not fight the man on his own; Ichigo realized that these three were the ones closest to him and they cared for him a great deal. Naruto would not change his mind, however, as he was determined to face this threat. Sakura could no longer contain her emotions; her tears affected even Ichigo, despite the fact that he didn't even know her.

"Why, Naruto? Why would you throw your life away just like that? What are you trying to...?"

"I'm not throwing my life away, and the reason I'm fighting…. is to protect you guys," Naruto declared.

"Naruto…" Sai said; he, like the other two kids and Ichigo, was left almost speechless by their friend's words. Naruto looked at them with a confused expression before he simply grinned.

Ichigo realized there was something familiar about these people even though he didn't know who they were; Naruto's next words would make Ichigo see what it was.

"You guys are my friends, and thanks to you I was able to get this far," Naruto said before he face turned serious.

"I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to any of you; besides, if I do die, I can't think of a better way to do so than to die protecting those who are important to me."

At this point Ichigo realized what he had felt earlier; he saw himself and his friends in Naruto and the others. He realized that this was more than an ordinary dream; there was something significant to what he was seeing. His thoughts, however, were refocused on the conversation.

"Sai, get the package on the ground there and get these two out of here," Naruto ordered in a rather blunt tone; Ichigo looked and, to his surprise, there was a black rectangular box on the ground in front of him with what appeared to be a seal shaped like a red spiral on it. Sai did as Naruto requested; before they left, however, the injured guy turned back to say something to Naruto.

"May I at least say one last thing?" he asked, to which Naruto nodded.

"Naruto, come back alive or don't come back at all," he said; Ichigo, as well as Sakura and Sai, were stunned by what the guy said. Naruto simply looked on before he gave a "nice guy pose" to his friends.

"No sweat, Sasuke; I'll come back. I promise," he said, with a massive grin on his face; unlike some other people Ichigo had encountered, however (Gin primarily), his smile was sincere and comforting.

Sasuke gave a light smile before turning to Sakura and Sai.

"We have to go," Sasuke said, to which the other two simply nodded before disappearing in a cloud of smoke (A/N: for Bleach fans who don't know much about Naruto, they just used the Body Flicker Technique).

Naruto then turned to the direction of his opponent; as Naruto moved forward, Ichigo realized that the world around him was turning into white void. He tried to call out to Naruto, to ask what him was going on; his voice, however, did not reach the young ninja. As the world around him finally disappeared, he could still hear what was to happen.

"I'm sorry guys, but my road ends here." It was Naruto's voice, though it was filled with sadness. A few seconds later, Ichigo heard Naruto's voice again.

"Tailed-Beast Rasengan!" He roared. Ichigo was clearly confused by this.

"_What is that? A Kido?_" He thought seconds before he heard an explosion; he then became enveloped in flash of light just as he heard Sakura's voice.

"NARUTO!" she shrieked. At that moment, Ichigo opened his and sat up. He realized that he was back in his room. He was breathing heavily and, to his shock, sweating profusely. He immediately got up and, using his Substitute Soul Reaper Badge for the first time, turned to his Soul Reaper form and went to see Kisuke Urahara in order to find out what he had just witnessed.


	5. 3: The Training Begins

**Chapter 3 – The Training Begins!**

A/N #1: While I'm going to make Naruto's training as close to Bleach's canon as possible, there will be some variations (major & minor).

A/N #2: This is chapter contains many loose ends that will be expanded upon later in the story; these extra elements also mean that this chapter will probably be longer than usual.

A/N #3: I'm, more than likely, writing an inaccurate comparison(s) of power levels; until the day that Viz Media and Shounen Jump make an official crossover, however, I'm forced to make an educated guess based on what I watch/read.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach; I only own the ideas for this story… for now (Just kidding) :)-

[Urahara Shop, Karakura Town, Human Realm]

_Current time…._

"What do you mean that I have to wait for a week to begin my training?!" Naruto yelled right into the face of the owner of the small shop; the man's gray eyes had a laid-back look in them that masked his irritation perfectly.

Ichigo was also rather surprised and annoyed by this delay. "Why do we have to wait so long? It's not like me and my friends don't have anywhere else we need to be, Kisuke."

At Kisuke's request, Ichigo and Rukia brought their friends Orihime Inoue, Uryu Ishida, and Yasutora Sado (who also goes by the name Chad) to his shop in order to explain to them what was going on and to meet the young ninja. In addition, Hitsugaya, along with his lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto, Byakuya's lieutenant, Renji Abarai, and two officers from Kenpachi's division, Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa, returned from the Soul Society after learning that Ichigo and his team had already found Naruto. They were in Karakura Town as part of the advance team sent by the Soul Society to repel Aizen's Arrancar Army, but went with Ichigo and Rukia to the Soul Society after the Substitute Soul Reaper foresaw Naruto's arrival. As per Yamamoto's instructions, however, they weren't informed of this until after Ichigo and his search team found the blond-haired ninja.

"If must know, young Naruto, it will take a week to complete the preparations for your training; in the meantime, you'll be getting a gigai so you that you stay with Ichigo and the others," Kisuke replied rather nonchalantly. Naruto remembered that Rukia mentioned what gigais when were back at the Seireitei.

"But before we do that, we have to deal with Kurama." That came from a woman who just entered the underground training area; she had a slender figure, dark skin, and long purple hair tied into a ponytail. She held an unusual device in her hand; it was shaped like a hexagon and was red in color.

"You managed to find it, Yoruichi!" Kisuke exclaimed in an almost comical manner; his reaction was the complete opposite of Naruto's, who took Yoruichi's statement rather poorly.

"Deal with Kurama? What are talking about?" He asked with suspicion; with the memories of the Akatsuki still fresh in his mind, he was still concerned these people simply wanted to use him like "they" (A/N: the Akatsuki) tried to do. Yoruichi knew what he was thinking and decided to clarify what she said.

"Don't worry, Naruto; we're not trying to take Kurama from you. For your training, however, we have to…" She made, in Naruto's eyes, a "how I'm going to explain this without making him freak out" type of expression.

"You have to what?" Naruto asked; he was still clearly suspicious of her intentions. Yoruichi sighed before she made a response.

"We have to separate you and Kurama physically; your Soul Reaper powers won't surface if Kurama is inside of you during your training. The seal keeping him inside of won't be broken, however; it will only be altered, so you'll both still be connected." Naruto was not convinced and was about to argue with the former second division captain when he heard Kurama.

"_It's alright, Naruto; we can trust her,_" he said. Naruto's jaw dropped in pure shock. This is something that Naruto wouldn't have expected from any of the tailed beasts, especially the usually cynical Kurama.

"_Are….Are you sure, Kurama?_" Naruto asked with obvious shock; Kurama calmly nodded.

"_I've met her before and, unlike so many others in our world, she was someone with whom I've have had good relations with; I'm surprised that she would be in a place like this, however._" Kurama had, like Naruto, never been to this world (A/N: The Soul Society and "The World of the Living") before; he did, however, recognize a few of the individual Soul Reapers they had encountered. As with much of his knowledge, however, Kurama decided to keep the extent of his encounters with the Soul Reapers to himself.

Naruto wasn't as sure Kurama was, but he decided to trust his judgment; he already considered Kurama to be his comrade and, as such, he should have faith in him.

"If Kurama is willing trust you, then I'll allow it; try anything, however, and you'll regret it." Yoruichi simply gave a smirk as she placed the mysterious device on the location of the seal that kept Kurama within Naruto. At this point Kisuke decided to explain to Ichigo and his friends the story of the tailed beasts. At the end of the explanation, many of the people in the room weren't convinced that Kurama was worth the time it took to separate him from Naruto.

"How tough can they be?" Ichigo asked; he was as clueless as he could ever be.

"More than you can ever imagine, Ichigo Kurosaki," Toshiro said; this got the captain of the 10th Division quite a few stares. Uryu was the first to respond.

"You know about these tailed beasts?" the young Quincy asked.

"As a captain of the Gotei 13, I'm required to know about them; as for you, Kurosaki, I'll explain to it to you in way you can understand. The tailed beasts, especially Kurama, are as strong as, if not stronger than, any of the Gotei 13 captains. The tailed beasts are also rather protective of their respective Jinchūriki, which is something that may interfere with Naruto's training," he said in a rather serious tone (A/N #3 referred to this part). Ichigo was understandably shocked by this revelation; that fact that there were beings besides the Vasto Lordes that could match, and possibly surpass, the captains was rather unsettling.

Kisuke interrupted the conversation; holding a paper fan up to his face, he turned to Yoruichi.

"It's time, Yoruichi," he said; Yoruichi then placed her palm on the gadget. The gadget soon turned black before it suddenly began to glow; Ichigo and others the in shock as a beam of energy, presumably chakra, came out of the gadget and hit the floor a few dozen yards away.

"Ichigo and friends: without any further delay, I introduce you to Kurama, otherwise known as the Nine-Tailed Fox," Kisuke said as Ichigo and his friends turned their attention to the location where the chakra beam exploded. They immediately noticed a silhouette appearing within the massive dust clouds that had formed; as the clouds finally cleared, they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Standing before Ichigo and the others was a fox, though one that was larger than even the Gillians. He had red-orange fur, red eyes, the upper-body structure of a human, and, true to its moniker, nine massive tails. He looked down at the group of people before as Naruto waved up at him.

"Are you alright, Kurama?!" he asked the giant creature. Everyone else in the training area, except Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Toshiro, was looking at Kurama as if they were seeing a really scary horror movie. Kurama simply nodded and turned to Yoruichi.

"It's been a long time, Yoruichi," he said; Ichigo and his friends' jaws dropped in pure shock. They didn't know which was more shocking; the fact that this creature could talk or the fact that he knew Yoruichi.

"Likewise, Kurama," she replied nonchalantly. She turned to Ichigo, who was looking back and forth between Naruto and Kurama.

"Don't tell me you're scared?" she asked as if she was teasing him.

"That's not it at all; I just don't get how someone like him..." Ichigo as he pointed his finger; first at Kurama, then at Naruto.

"…is sealed into someone like him." He was referring to the obvious fact that Kurama was far larger than his apparent host. He could understand if the tailed beast was human-sized, but this was just unreal. Chad also had the same sentiment.

"Ichigo has a point; how is something like this even possible?" he asked. Toshiro interrupted their questioning.

"To explain that would take time that we don't have, Ichigo," he said. While Ichigo wished to press further on the issue, he decided against it, as the captain had made a very good point.

"Very well, then; unless you guys have any further questions, you're all free to go," Kisuke stated.

"Wait a minute, Urahara; we still have to figure out where Naruto will be staying," Ichigo said.

"He staying here with us (A/N: Kisuke, Yoruichi, Renji, and a few others who have yet to be mentioned); I don't think he intends to leave us alone with Kurama," Kisuke responded.

As everyone else headed back to their "homes", Rukia noticed that Orihime was looking back at the shop.

"Is something wrong, Orihime?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm fine Rukia; it's just, well….. Naruto's spiritual pressure is almost the same as that of Ichigo's," Orihime said, to which Rukia smiled.

"I guess we shouldn't be surprised; they're almost exactly the same in so many ways," she said, though she still hoped that Naruto would be more mature than her friend….

_One Week Later…._

Rukia's prayers were, much to everyone's dismay, unanswered; Naruto was, if anything, even harder to deal with than Ichigo. They had to keep either Toshiro or Ichigo near him at all times just to prevent him from causing any trouble, whether it was pulling pranks, or simply getting overly curious about some of the technologies that he saw. To make things more complicated, the restraints placed on the abilities of the Soul Reapers when they were inside gigais did not affect Naruto's ability to use his jutsus, which normal humans could see, so they had to be extra cautious when they were fighting Hollows.

Despite the difficulties in dealing with him, however, Ichigo and the others could see why he was the reincarnate of the Sage; despite being simple, short-tempered, and mischievous to no end, he was also an individual who is honest, warm, kind, and very determined. This was all the more surprising to them after Naruto told about his life in the Chakra Realm.

As everyone entered the training grounds under Urahara's shop to begin the young ninja's training, Ichigo was becoming more and more anxious about what was to unfold, even if he didn't show it (A/N: Read on and you'll see why). Once everyone arrived, Kisuke stood in front of them, holding with his "cane". No one had noticed that part of the training grounds had been placed behind some sort of barrier; what was more amazing was that everyone, minus those who stayed the shop during the week, also failed to notice that both Yoruichi and Kurama were not present.

"Good morning, everyone; how are you all feeling?" Kisuke asked everyone, knowing how they would respond; he had sent the message for everyone to gather at his shop an hour ago, at 5:00 a.m.

"How do you think we feel?" groaned Renji, who was particularly annoyed by this early wakeup. Ignoring everyone's complaints, Kisuke focused on the task at hand.

"Everything is now ready; please step forward, Naruto," he said. The young Reaper-in-training, who was sitting next to Ichigo, stood up, stretched his back, and stood before Kisuke. The former 12th Division captain had already informed Naruto of the risks of the particular method they were going to use to help him obtain his Soul Reaper abilities and had asked the young ninja if he sure that he was willing to accept those risks.

"I told you already that I'm not going to back down, Mr. Urahara; if taking these risks will help me go back to my friends back home, then do your worst," Naruto said with clear conviction. Kisuke simply smiled as he raised his cane with the base of the shaft pointing at Naruto; the young ninja noticed that the base bore a skull and flame symbol. He pressed the symbol to Naruto's forehead separating the boy's soul from the gigai that Kisuke had provided him and knocking the ninja to the ground; as Naruto stood up, clearly irritated by Urahara, everyone took notice at a chain that appeared on Naruto's chest linking him to the "temporary" body.

"_It actually worked as I had intended_," Kisuke thought to himself while looking at the gigai. This gigai, as he had explained to Naruto and the others a week ago, was a prototype version of the one he gave to Rukia when she gave Ichigo her powers; unlike that version, however, this gigai would transformed him into a human without draining his spiritual pressure. The gigai was also different in one other respect: while the gigai Rukia had would turn her into a human over a long period of time (Kisuke said so that the user wouldn't notice), the one Naruto was using had turned him back into a human in less than a week. That was why Naruto now had a Chain of Fate connecting him to his gigai/body. Pushing these thoughts aside, Kisuke returned his attention to the young shinobi.

"Alright, young Naruto, your fir-," Kisuke said before he was interrupted by a fist to his face from the young man. As Kisuke got up, slightly in pain, he finally noticed the irritation etched into Naruto's face. He also noticed that Naruto had no difficulties breathing or moving whatsoever when he should have been gasping for air; Kisuke, never one to be surprised, was clearly at a loss for words.

"_How is he able to breathe and move so easily? Is he already able to raise his spiritual energy?_" Kisuke thought to himself.

"Why did you smack me so hard, damn it!?" Naruto roared, waking everyone else there in the process. Kisuke just stood there, looking at the young shinobi.

"_I guess that answers the question. This at least that makes our job a hell of a lot easier,_" Kisuke thought to himself before he spoke to Naruto.

"So I could separate you from your body, as it requires a quite a bit of force. Now before you wake up all of Karakura Town, may I at least one thing?" Kisuke asked.

"And what might that be?" Naruto asked as he was still seething. Kisuke pulled out his little paper fan.

"Congratulations, young Naruto; you passed the first lesson before it even began!" He said comically jolly manner.

"Huh!?" Naruto blurted out.

Next Time – Chapter 4: My Name

A/N #4: Sorry for the long delay; to prevent further regrets, I'll no longer guarantee when I'll finish a chapter, though I'll try to finish them as fast as possible. I am, however, more inclined to publish chapters faster when I receive more reviews, so please send more of them.


	6. 4: My Name

**Chapter 4: My Name**

A/N# 1: For those of you who couldn't tell by the name, this is the chapter where Naruto meets and obtains his zanpakuto; this chapter will contain the largest difference(s) between the canonical version of the training and my version.

A/N# 2: Naruto will not become a Visored since having an inner hollow would make it too difficult for me to write, among other things, conversations within Naruto's inner world (I already plan to have something else instead of an inner hollow near the story's end; don't ask what because it's a secret).

Please send more reviews!

Disclaimer: Naruto/Bleach belong to Kishimoto/Kubo, respectively.

[Urahara Shop, Karakura Town, Human Realm]

_Current Time _

Recap:

"Congratulations, young Naruto; you passed the first lesson before it even began!" Kisuke said in a comically jolly manner.

"Huh!?" Naruto blurted out.

After a few seconds Naruto finally composed himself.

"A…..Are you serious?" he asked the "eccentric" ex-captain.

"Of course I'm serious; the first lesson was to learn how to raise your own spiritual energy. When Ichigo was trying to gain, or regain to be more precise, his Soul Reaper powers he wasn't able to move or breathe properly for quite some time, which is supposed to be the case for everyone when they become Pluses; your physical stamina is beyond that of anything I've ever witnessed, however, as you were able to raise your spiritual energy the moment you left your body," Kisuke explained to the young ninja. Naruto gave a wide mischievous smile at this.

"I knew I was more awesome than Ichigo," Naruto said in a mischievous tone, causing a giant vein to poke out of Ichigo's forehead.

"Shut up, Naruto," he retorted, knowing that Naruto was just trying to get under his skin, again; despite his irritation, however, he was glad that Naruto was able to pass the first lesson. Ichigo was still trying to hide it from his friends but they could already tell that his relationship with Naruto was already less of a teacher and student and more of a rival/friend type of bond. This newly formed friendship, which he had made with the others as well, was the reason that they were all anxious, to varying degrees, about the next lesson.

"Anyways…. I suggest that we celebrate this by immediately going to the second lesson," Kisuke declared, and before the blond haired ninja could even react to this, a giant axe severed Naruto's Chain of Fate, separating him from his body. He turned to face the weapon's wielder, a tall, muscular, lightly tan-skinned man with cornrowed hair and a large handlebar mustache which was connected to his long sideburns; the man, from what Naruto learned during his time at Urahara's shop, was named Tessai. Before Naruto could question what was going on, he suddenly fell to the ground and was unable to get up as Tessai had him pinned to the ground.

"What the hell, Tessai!?" Naruto asked in pure confusion and clear pain, at which point Kisuke decided to explain the situation to Naruto.

"This is the Shattered Shaft lesson that I warned you about a few days back," Kisuke said; after a few seconds, Naruto's eyes widened at the meaning of what Kisuke mentioned.

"So this is lesson where I become a Hollow 'if' I fail?" Naruto asked, to which Kisuke confirmed.

"You don't have much time now so I'll give a quick explanation of the lesson itself. Now that your Chain of Fate is severed, the remaining links of your chains will go through something called Encroachment, which is just a fancy way of saying that the links be destroyed, one by one; once Encroachment ends a hole will form in your chest and you'll become a hollow. At that point we'll have to kill you," Kisuke explained; Naruto face suddenly gained an expression of pure terror.

"Then how the hell am I supposed to sto-," Naruto said before a voice interrupted him.

"There's only one way to prevent yourself from becoming a hollow….." Naruto turned his head and was shocked to find that it was Ichigo who was the one who was talking.

"….. and that is to become a Soul Reaper," Ichigo said. Kisuke soon took control of the conversation again.

"That is the purpose of this lesson; in order to proceed you need to claim your Soul Reaper powers. Anyways, it's time to begin…." Kisuke then pointed his hand forward.

"Go," he said as if it were a command. As if on cue a large cylindrical hole formed directly under Naruto and Tessai. Naruto screamed loud enough to force Kisuke and Ichigo to cover their ears until they heard a loud thud from Naruto landing at the body of the shaft. Both men then looked into the shaft to see that Tessai was about to perform a Kido.

"Bakudo #99, Part 1. Kin," Tessai exclaimed. As Naruto was about to get Tessai off of him his arms were suddenly bound behind his back with spiritual fabric and iron shafts. Naruto attempted to break through the bindings but to no avail, as the binding held fast.

"Why are you guys doing this?" Naruto asked as he got to his feet. As he tried to pull himself together he watched in horror as the link of the chain farthest from his chest began forming multiple sets of mouths that began gnashing at the link. Before Naruto could step on the link, which he hoped would slow the process, he heard Ichigo say, "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Naruto looked and saw the Substitute Soul Reaper and Kisuke standing at the top of the shaft.

"If you or anyone else tried to stop it the chain will simply bite back," Ichigo said bluntly.

"Then what I am supposed to do, for Kami's sake!?" Naruto roared at him.

"You got to climb out of the shaft before the Encroachment ends," Ichigo said with his usual expression etched into his face.

"And remember how much time you have," he said; Naruto had already been told that this lesson had a 72 hour-time limit. Ichigo and Kisuke walked away from the shaft, ignoring Naruto's rant about him kicking both their sorry asses when he got out of there.

"You'll think he will succeed?" Kisuke asked the orange-haired Soul Reaper. Ichigo scowled at him before he answered.

"Of course he will; stop underestimating my student, Kisuke," Ichigo roared at the former Soul Reaper captain, not wanting his "student" to appear weak in front of the others.

They now sat down as they waited for Naruto to either become a Soul Reaper or a Hollow…

_Twenty Hours Later…_

…which was too much for the impatient Ichigo to do. He was not the type to wait around idly, so he passed the time the only way he could think of: having a sparring match with Ikkaku, then Chad, and now Renji.

As he attempts to hit Ichigo with the shikai of his zanpakuto, Renji decides to have some small talk with Naruto's "mentor".

"I still don't understand how a something the size of Kurama can be sealed within a person," Renji said as Ichigo easily dodged another series of attacks from Zabimaru.

"Yeah, I actually thought he was going to be the size of normal fox; I never imagined that he would be that huge," Ichigo said, looking around the training grounds; his eyes suddenly widened as if he had realized something important.

"And speaking of Kurama, where is he? And where's Yoruichi for that matter?" Ichigo asked, gaining a shocked look from the 6th Division lieutenant.

"You're joking? You mean you haven't noticed that a giant fox with nine tails and power greater than any of the captains was not around even though you've been here for almost a day already?" Renji asked with some irritation; the others had made comments about Kurama's absence and had assumed Ichigo was too focused on Naruto to even bother mentioning it. Before Ichigo could reply, however, a familiar voice interrupted their conversation.

"Kurama was here the whole time, Renji; you just couldn't see him until now," Ichigo and everyone else, minus Kisuke (who was keeping his eyes on the shaft), Rangiku, and Yumichika, (who were either dealing with hollows or simply enjoying their time in the human world) turned to the direction of the voice and saw Yoruichi standing next someone they had never seen before.

He was a young man, maybe a couple of years older than Naruto, and appeared to be a few inches taller than Ichigo, and had a lean build. He had black hair (A/N: think of Ichigo's hair when he used the Final Getsuga Tensho if it was shoulder-length), blues eyes, and had a calm, serene expression. He was wearing a tattered grey duster with an upturned collar, no sleeves, and nine red magatamas arranged in circular pattern on the back. Underneath this duster the man wore a white shirt, black pants, gray shinobi sandals, and a red sash. He also had what appeared to be a sheathed katana with a round tsuba and a red hilt; the sheath was attached to the red sash. The people in the front of them may not have recognized him by appearance but the energy they sensed within him gave his identity away.

"Ku…Ku….Kurama, is that you?" Rukia asked; the man simply smiled as everyone looked at him in shock.

"You guys already figured that out, huh?! At least that makes explaining things a little easier," the Tailed Beast said in an easygoing voice that was completely unrecognizable from the crude, demonic roar of a voice that everyone remembered from last week; yesterday for Renji and the people who worked in Urahara's shop. Ichigo was, understandably, shocked by this (A/N: For anyone who has not seen Bleach Episode 41, the first thing that shocked Ichigo after Yoruichi revealed her Soul Reaper form was the fact that Yoruichi was not a cat; the reaction to her "exposure" was right after.).

"Wait the minute, Yoruichi," Ichigo stammered, "if you said that Kurama's true form was what we saw last week, then why is he-," Ichigo said before he was interrupted by Naruto, who was suddenly swearing at… something.

"What the hell are these [expletive] things?! Get them off of me; I'm already [expletive] tied up as it is," he roared; this got everyone attention since Naruto had been rather quiet for the past 12 hours and, more importantly, the volume of the Naruto's screams indicated that he was no longer at that bottom of the shaft. Everyone ran towards the shaft where Kisuke was already looking at the edge; when everyone got to the edge they cautiously looked down.

They couldn't believe what they were seeing; somehow, Naruto was halfway up the shaft even with the Kido that Tessai used still active. He was now tied up further, however, by six chains that appear to have come out of the walls of the shaft and were wrapped around the young ninja; he is now suspended in the middle of the shaft, struggling to break free from these new bindings while cursing his predicament. Everyone just stared at the scene in disbelief; Yoruichi, Tessai, Kisuke, and Ichigo were especially taken aback by this sight.

"I never thought I'd never see the day," Kisuke said, getting a bunch of confused stares from everyone including Naruto, who was now too constricted by the chains to even move a muscle. Kisuke raised his eyebrows, as if he was not expecting their reaction; a few moments passed before his eyes widened as if he realized something.

"Oh, that's right; Ichigo never got this far, did he?" Kisuke asked rhetorically. He decided to give a quick explanation.

"This is the second stage of the Shattered Shaft; Naruto will, as soon as I say the command, enter his spiritual state and attempt to gain his powers. This is how one is supposed to obtain their abilities during this lesson. Ichigo never got to this point because he was at the bottom the whole time when he was in there," he explained. He turned his attention to Naruto, who looked like he was going to rip him apart.

"Before I say the command, you should know that you are still going through the Encroachment, so you should be quick about it. You've got 52 hours," Kisuke said nonchalantly; before Naruto could go off on a tirade, Kisuke slammed his "cane" into the ground and yelled, "Enter!" As soon as he did a white light enveloped Naruto and the chains; Naruto yelled at Kisuke, saying that he would regret tying him up like some beast, only to realize that he was already surrounded by the blinding flash.

* * *

After what felt like an eternity, Naruto opened his eyes and saw a clear blue sky in front of him, and felt a weird sensation; it was like he was lying on something soft and a little cold. He sat up and noticed that he was in a clearing in the middle of a tranquil snow-covered forest. As he stood up he felt a strong gust of wind come from behind; he turned around and let jaw dropped in awe at what he was seeing. The clearing he was standing in was on the edge of appeared to be Hokage Mountain, or at least a version of it that was twice as big as the real one. This place was also different from his home in one other major aspect; the forest on top of the mountain also extended down to the base where Konoha should be and appeared to continue endlessly. Naruto also noticed that there were quite a few birds, primarily hawks and owls, which Naruto found to be very strange; if this was the spiritual state that the asshole Kisuke had talked about, he assumed that anything alive in here would've been either foxes or toads. He tried to think of how he would retrieve his powers until he heard a somewhat familiar voice.

"_You've arrived hear sooner than I expected; can't say I'm surprised, though,"_ the voice said; it was the female voice that Naruto kept hearing from time to time and the one that warned him that Cifer was going to attack. He turned around to finally face the source of the voice; what he saw amazed him.

It was a young woman, about the age of his mother, who had a slender figure, fair skin and long hair that was also similar to his mother's, except that it was white in color and instead of a black hair clip she had a snowdrop pinned to her hair. Her eyes were one of two her most distinguishing characteristic, with blue irises and pupils that resembled a cross (A/N: the cross-like pupils look like the Naruto's Sage Mode/Initial Jinchuriki Form fusion seen when he encountered Nagato and Konan, but with blue irises instead of red), yellow pigmentation around both eyes, and had an very piercing gaze; the other, and more noticeable, characteristic that made her unusual were the large white wings that kept her off the ground. She was wearing a bright blue kimono with sleeves that went down to just above her wrists, a yellow sleeveless haori, yellow shinobi sandals, and an orange sash around her waist; there was a slight bulge underneath the right sleeve of her kimono that Naruto could only assume was a hidden kunai mechanism. Naruto simply looked on in shock as the mysterious women began to speak.

"_Don't tell me that you haven't sensed my presence already?_" she asked the young ninja, at which point Naruto regained his focus.

"_That's not it at all; I've already heard your voice. I just don't know who you are,_" Naruto replied; he did know about the voice and that she must be his zanpakuto, but that's where his familiarity ended. The woman sighed at this reply.

"_My name is-_" she started to explain; Naruto, however, was unable to hear the rest of her sentence due to sudden and strong gusts of wind.

"_I can't hear you,_" he replied, to which the women shook her head; Naruto got the strange feeling that she had expected this to happen.

"_I guess you really will have to find your Soul Reaper powers first,_" she said; before Naruto could question her on that, she decided to elaborate on her point.

"_Your Soul Reaper powers are located someone in this world and now that this world will go up in flames it is the perfect time to find that power; if you cannot it before this is fully burnt to the ground, you will turn into a Hollow._" Naruto was now very confused.

"_Go up in flames? Burnt to the ground? What do you mea-?_" Naruto began asking until he noticed that the flocks of birds perched on the trees began to fly away, as if they were trying to get away from something. Naruto then noticed that a few of the trees began to spontaneously burst into large white flames; Naruto's confusion turned into terror as the other trees began burst into similar flames in rapid succession until, in a space of thirty seconds, the entire forest was engulfed in flames. The winged woman decided to clarify further what he should be doing.

"_Instead of standing around, gaping at the flames, you should be trying to find your powers. One of these burning trees contains your Soul Reaper powers; you need to find it before the flames destroy this world._" Naruto was growing frustrated with this woman; how the hell was he going to find one particular tree when all these trees looked the same, flames included? As considered fighting her to get a straight answer, something caught his eye. Many of the embers that flames emitted were now floating in the air; Naruto eyes widened as he saw a few red embers mixed in with the ones.

'_These are like the strings that Uryu and Ichigo use to find me all the time,_' Naruto thought to himself. Whenever tried to cause some mischief during the past week, those two would always track him down even when tried to suppress his powers. Realizing that these embers were simply another version of those strings, he began to go in the direction of the red embers which, sure enough, led him to their source.

The embers came from a tree stump in another clearing within the forest; as Naruto had expected, the flames emitted from it were red instead of the white flames emitted from the full trees around it. Naruto looked into the flames and was further surprised by what he saw inside the flames. It looked like the tri-pronged kunai his dad was known for using, except that this one had no markings on the handle. The main prong of the kunai was wedged within the stump and surrounded by the red flames; Naruto realized that this was the 'power' that the woman was referring to. Naruto, trying to play it safe, tried to figure out how to get the blade out of the flames when the woman, who had followed him, made her presence known.

"_What are you waiting for, an invitation? Pull it out._" Naruto looked at her as if she was clinically insane.

"_Are you crazy? That blade is on fire. F-I-R-E! I can't just put my hand in there._" At this the woman, who had a calm expression up until that point, scowled at him and began to lecture him.

"_Is this the Naruto that defeated Pain? Is this the Naruto that saved Sasuke when everyone else thought he was beyond redemption? Is this the same Naruto that was willing to sacrifice himself to defeat Tobi? Why are you so afraid of something so trivial like this? This isn't who you are, Naruto Uzumaki; the real you would have thrown his hand in those flames, completely oblivious to the danger _(A/N: Let's face it, we all know she's right)_. Have you let yourself get so caught up in your fears that you've lost yourself in this moment, or have you simply forgotten the reason why you're here, trying to become a Soul Reaper, in the first place?_"

Naruto was left speechless by this tirade and was unable to respond until, with another strong gust of wind, a small bundle fell out of one the front pockets of his pants. He picked it up look at its contents: a copy of the group photo of him and the original Team 7 and a copy of the novel written by his late master Jiraiya, "Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi". As Naruto stared at these items, he realized what the woman was trying to tell him.

'_Why am I scared?_' Naruto thought to himself as the memories of his friends back in his world and the bonds he had already made in this world raced through his mind. After a few minutes of silence, minus the crackling of the flames them, the woman's scowl disappeared as she attempted to talk some sense into him.

"_Let me ask you something, Naruto. What are Ichigo and the others going to see once you get out of the shaft? Are they going to see someone who gave in to his doubts and turned into a hollow as a result? Or are they going to see a Soul Reaper, unwavering in his resolve and ready for whatever comes his way? I think they should see a Soul Reaper come out of the shaft; what do you think?_"

At this Naruto simply smirked.

"_I think they should see a Soul Reaper as well,_" he said.

"_Then stick your hand in those flames and pull that blade out of there,_" the woman said.

"_Right,_" Naruto replied; as he finally stuck both his hands into the flames, he was amazed that he didn't feel anything out of the ordinary when he should have been in very intense pain. After a few minutes of attempting, unsuccessfully, to pull the blade out of the stump Naruto, using all the physical strength he could muster into one attempt, finally got the blade free. As Naruto sat down on the ground, taking a good look at his zanpakuto, he noticed that the fires around him were abruptly ending as the forest returned to its previous state. The woman now looked at him again; this time, however, she smiled at him.

"_I can now answer your first question. My name… is Kenja_ (A/N: another word for Sage in Japanese)_._" Naruto simply smiled back.

"_Kenja, is it? Makes sense to me. And thank you. I promise you that that won't happen to me again,_" Naruto said.

* * *

"Are you sure you can't see going on in his mind, Kurama?" Ichigo asked the tailed beast.

"I already told you this five times; until Naruto gains his Soul Reaper powers the gadget that Yoruichi used to separate us prevents me from communicating with him within his mind and vice-versa. That's also why he hasn't been able to use my chakra for the past week," Kurama said, maintaining his calm demeanor in spite of Ichigo's behavior. Since he and Naruto were so much alike, however, dealing with Ichigo was not that difficult for him.

"Maybe so, Kurama, but shouldn't you at least try to see what's going on before being so sure of that?" Rangiku asked him, to which he sighed in frustration. She and Yumichika had returned soon after Naruto began the second stage.

"I've been trying the whole time Naruto has been down there; how else would I know that it's not possible….. yet?" Kurama said. He turned his attention to Kisuke, hoping that the barrage of repetitive questions would end soon.

"How long has he been in there?" Kurama asked him.

"He's been in this state for about 16 hours, so he's been in the shaft for about 36 hours as of now," Kisuke answered while he still focused his gaze on Naruto, still amazed at this young man's strength. Kurama nodded in understanding. Yumichika decided to ask Kurama something that had been biting at his curiosity ever since he had first seen Kurama's human form.

"Kurama, do you mind if I ask you something?" he asked.

"Be my guest," Kurama said in reply.

"You said earlier that the whisker marks on Naruto's cheeks were the result of your chakra's influence on him when he was born; if that's true then how come you don't have those marks?" Yumichika asked; as a man obsessed with appearances, he had noted the lack of marks on Kurama a while back. Kurama raised an eyebrow at this question.

"That's an unusual question to ask at this time; then again, I can see why you would ask about that," Kurama said before he answered.

"The reason I don't have the marks is-" Kurama began to explain before he felt a strange sensation in his abdomen. He lifted the bottom half of his see what was going on; he smirked at what he saw. On his abdomen an image of the Torii Seal (A/N: the seal that Naruto used to restrain Kurama after gaining the Nine-Tailed Chakra Mode), a magatama bead, which connected him and Naruto was imprinted on him. Since he had gained his human form the circle part was completely black; when he first revealed this to Ichigo and the others, Yoruichi had to explain the nature of the sealing jutsu because they initially thought the he had been hollowfied. The circle was now, however, changing before everyone's eyes from a black void into a red spiral pattern. Kurama stood in place, motionless, for a few minutes before he flashed a smile; it was like he just realized what had happened.

"We should probably back away from the shaft now," he said to everyone in the room. Ichigo and the others didn't understand what he meant until a sudden surge of spiritual pressure began emanating from the shaft; anyone who wasn't standing up at the time immediately got on their feet now. Ikkaku turned to Kurama, talking with his usual maniacal grin etched onto his face.

"I'm guessing that Naruto finally succeeded?" he asked the tailed beast, to which he nodded.

"I was finally able communicate with him and his zanpakuto," Kurama replied before reiterating his previous warning. "We should back away from the shaft."

Everyone did as he suggested, not wanting to get caught in the explosion that was going to occur. Just as Kurama and the others got a hundred between them and the shaft a massive column of orange spiritual pressure burst from the shaft; if anyone had been within 80 feet of the blast they would have been badly, maybe even critically, injured. As the dust clouds from the explosion settled, Kisuke shuddered at what would have happened to his friend Tessai; if he hadn't gotten out of the shaft after Naruto began the second stage of the Shattered Shaft, he would surely have been killed in the blast. Pushing that thought out of his he turned his attention to the task at hand; he decided to call out to Naruto.

"Naruto Uzumaki, are you still alive?" he asked in an almost mocking tone as everyone else, minus Kurama, were still reeling from witnessing the massive explosion. As if in response to Kisuke's question, his hat suddenly burst into hundreds of tiny pieces; before Kisuke could respond to his hat's "murder", the culprit made himself known with a very strong and well-timed kick to Kisuke's face, which sent him flying a few dozen yards. He managed to get up a few minutes later after being knocked unconscious by the kick; as he checked to make sure that he hadn't broken anything, he heard Naruto's voice.

"I wanted to do that ever since you put me in that damn hole, Kisuke," he said with a mixture of irritation and satisfaction in his voice. Kisuke turned around to see what the new Soul Reaper looked like.

Naruto was now wearing the black shihakusho of a Soul Reaper, though his version was noticeably different from the standard version. The sleeves of his kosode were slightly more form-fitting and extended to just above the wrists, with a slight bulge protruding from underneath the right sleeve. He still wore his black shinobi sandals as opposed to the traditional wooden sandals and both his undergarments and hakama-himo (A/N: the strap{s} that holds the bottom part of the kimono [called the hakama]) were orange instead of white; he also wore a strap around his chest that consisted of red, yellow, and orange magatama beads that were lined up with each other vertically. He still wore his black shinobi forehead protector in spite of the many times that thing should been destroyed. In addition to the change in wardrobe, he was now wielding a tri-pronged kunai knife that he held in his hand, which was clearly his zanpakuto based on the ridiculously immense spiritual pressure they could feel emanating from it; the kunai had a small rope attached to that appeared to connect the blade to whatever was hidden in his sleeve. He was now also as tall Ichigo and his hair now reached shoulder length.

Kisuke decided to speak, hoping that Naruto wouldn't try to strike him… again.

"How do feel, young Naruto?" he asked him rather calmly.

"After what happened down there? Not bad, really. However, if you ever try that on me again, Kisuke, and I'll make you wish that I had turned into a hollow," he replied, to which Kisuke nodded. Kisuke then gave a clear explanation of the third lesson, which was basically meant to help the person who obtained their Soul Reaper powers get adjusted to using said powers.

"Well, Naruto, why don't we begin the third lesson now?" he asked, to which Naruto smirked.

"If it involves me fighting you then bring it on," Naruto said, to which Kisuke simply pulled out his paper fan and held it up to his face.

"I will not be fighting you; your opponent…" Kisuke replied as Ichigo approached the two of them with his zanpakuto Zangetsu already in Bankai form, which Naruto had already seen before; Kisuke stopped his explanation as the he could tell that Naruto already understood what was going to happen. Before he could say anything, however, he heard Kenja's voice.

"_This one's very powerful; do really think that you're ready to face such an opponent?_" she said, though she already knew his answer.

"_Face him? I plan on beating him!_" Naruto proudly declared; after a few moments of silence, Kenja spoke to him again.

"_It would appear you've fully regained your resolve. There is only one thing that I have left to say,_" she said; when Naruto didn't say anything she assumed, correctly in this case, that he was listening.

"_Remember this well, Naruto... if you wish to see your friends back home again…... if you wish to honor the promises that you've made to your parents, sensei, and so many others… and if you wish to one day revive your dream of becoming Hokage... then keeping walking the path that you swore on your blood to follow! No matter how dire the situation or how great the odds are against you, keep moving forward and show those who dwell in the darkness the undying light that is the Will of Fire... because that's who Naruto is! Now call for me!_" she said; Naruto gladly obliged her.

"Ride the wind, Kenja!" he roared, at which point another, though less powerful, explosion of orange spiritual pressure engulfed him; the explosion was accompanied by very strong gusts of wind. After the explosion cleared, everyone was shocked to see the change in Naruto's zanpakuto.

It was now a wooden staff as tall as its wielder with the bases covered in steel plating; the plating on both sides of the staff have the Kanjis for staff and wind emblazoned on them while both ends of the staff also have the for seal emblazoned on them. As everyone just looked in on shock, Naruto lifted the bottom half of his staff and further shocked everyone as a powerful gust of wind struck Ichigo and lacerated his left arm in at least five different places.

"I hope you're ready for a trip to your dad's clinic, Ichigo," Naruto said smugly, to which Ichigo smirked at despite his injuries.

"You'll be the one who needs a doctor after this, Naruto," he said as he released a massive amount of his blue-colored spiritual pressure; Naruto responded by releasing massive amounts of his orange-colored spiritual pressure as well as both his and Kurama's chakras, which he now had access to again. They then charged at each other at full force.

"I'M TAKING YOU DOWN, ICHIGO!" Naruto roared just before both their zanpakutos clashed with each other, causing the powerful energies they had both released to explode….

Next Time – A World in Tears

A/N# 3: There is an important poll that I posted on my page; I urge you to vote. The poll will close after 100+ votes (depending on the time I log in) or after I publish chapter 5 of this story, whichever comes first. What's the topic? Go to my page and see for yourself, but it is important for the story.

A/N# 4: I know it's a very, very long chapter, but I wanted to get the Shattered Shaft and the appearance of Naruto's Shikai over with already.

To Allan: I will introduce Aizen and the rest of his lackeys in Chapter 6; there will also be villains from Naruto as well in another upcoming chapter.


	7. 5: A World in Tears

**Chapter 5: A World in Tears**

A/N # 1: This is the first chapter that will focus on the events occurring in Naruto's world; I will not continue the Naruto vs. Ichigo fight until Chapter 6. I will try to keep this chapter as short as I'm possibly able to as I know you readers want to read about that fight.

A/N # 2: To prevent complications that would be caused by the recent revelations in the previous nine chapters, this story begins after (in Naruto's world) chapter 593 of the manga; the parts of the story after that point did not occur in my story. This means, for example, that Tobi's identity hasn't (and will never be in this story) revealed; he's dead anyways and his identity is irrelevant in my story so why should I write about it?

Please send more reviews; I am having a hard time motivating myself to write this story with such few commentaries.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and/or Bleach.

[Shinobi Alliance Headquarters (SAH), Unspecified Location North-East of Takigakure, Shinobi World]

_Current Time…._

The skies above the relocated base of the Allied Shinobi Forces were generating a large amount of rain, matching the feelings of grief that the shinobi in the camp were experiencing. For the shinobi of Konohagakure, the feelings of loss hit them especially hard. It had been more than a week since the tragic death of Naruto Uzumaki after his battle with Tobi, and the emotional toll was still the same as it was the moment he died. Despite the feeling of emptiness that emanated across the Allied forces, however, they refused to give in to those feelings as they were determined not to let Naruto's efforts be in vain. For the Fourth Shinobi World War did not end with Tobi's demise.

The five kages, their bodyguards (A/N: this only includes the Kage who were at the Kage Summit, so Tsunade doesn't have any), and the leader of the Land of Iron, were now in the new meeting hall listening to the latest reports on the war effort. The Captain of the Intelligence Division, Inoichi Yamanaka, was the one delivering the updates.

"Our Commando Unit has just sent us the Intel the Akatsuki Remnant, as it was now called, left at Mountains' Graveyard during their withdrawal; they are now returning to base as we speak. The Commando Unit's report also states that Captain Yamato has recovered from his injuries and is also returning to base," the Yamanaka clansman explained. After a few moments of awkward silence Ōnoki, the Tsuchikage, decided to ask the one question that was on everyone's mind.

"Have they found anything regarding Naruto's…..remains?" he asked; though large traces of Naruto's blood had been found at the site of his battle, his body had not been located. Many of the shinobi feared that the Remnant might have somehow acquired his body and might go so far as to use him as an Edo Tensei summoning; considering the fact that both Orochimaru and Kabuto were now, reluctantly, part of the Akatsuki Remnant, the possibility was definitely real.

"All the information that the Commando Unit found regarding Naruto Uzumaki's remains suggests that that Remnant were unsuccessful in their attempts to even find his remains; the reports also indicate that they didn't even begin looking for them until well after we had taken all of Naruto's blood as well as Tobi's remains," Inoichi responded. Most of the shinobi were just glad they didn't have to face him. At this point Gaara decided to ask another, more pressing, question.

"What of the whereabouts of the Remnant?" he asked with a voice that indicated that he was in pain; with resealing of Shukaku within him occurring only two days ago his body was still readjusting.

"There was no information regarding their current position and the Commando Unit could not sense their presence." Inoichi explained. Everyone in the room was starting to get frustrated. Yagura, who was also present at this meeting alongside the seven other non-Kage Jinchuriki, decided to voice his irritation.

"We should've finished Madara when we had the chance," the former Mizukage grumbled; this was a sentiment shared by the other Jinchuriki.

When Naruto had freed the other Biju from Tobi's control, more specifically from the Gedō Mazō statue where the Tailed Beasts were placed in after their extraction that was controlled by Tobi, they were sealed within the newly manifested Jinchuriki, as their spirits had also been freed by Naruto. Shukaku, since his previous host had been revived before that time, had been sealed within a large jar similar to the one that Gyuki and the Gold and Silver Brothers were sealed in.

After Sakura had treated the revived Jinchuriki for any injuries they received they went with Killer Bee to aid the Kages, who were desperately fighting to survive their battle with undead Madara Uchiha. Despite saving the Kages and inflicting serious damage to Madara, however, the reanimated Uchiha was able to escape from the Allied Shinobi Forces' grasp. He then freed Kabuto from the grip of the Izanami before forcing him and Orochimaru to fight for him despite his weakened state; the three then rounded up Black Zetsu and the remaining White Zetsu forces, 10,000 in total, before retreating to Mountains' Graveyard. The enemy vanished four days ago, despite the fact that the area around their last known location was a peninsula with very few places to hide. The Jinchuriki were especially ashamed of this; Naruto had sacrificed his life to save them and the shinobi world yet they couldn't even stop the second mastermind behind the war that claimed his life from escaping.

Mei Temuri, the current Mizukage, tried to console the Jinchuriki.

"You couldn't have known about his contingencies so what could you do? With the damage he sustained, it would take him no sooner than a month to recover even with the First Hokage's cells, regardless of whether he's Edo Tensei or not; we'll find him soon enough," she reasoned. As the Jinchuriki pondered their worth, Mei decided to ask Tsunade a question.

"Lady Hokage, how are the revived shinobi fairing in their recoveries?" Mei asked. Tsunade had not spoken much in the past week, except for when the situation called for it; along with Gaara, the Fifth Hokage found Naruto's death to be an unbearably bitter pill to swallow. She had also missed some of the meetings, though this was due to the fact that she was needed in the Logistical Support and Medical Division, who were overwhelmed with over 15,000 wounded shinobi still needing treatment for minor to serious injuries since last week.

"The most serious cases have been dealt with though we still have 12,000 more patients that need treatment for minor injuries. (she sighs) Though I'll admit we would be in worse shape if they hadn't been revived," she said During the course of the war the Allied Shinobi Forces' army had dropped from 80,000 to fewer than 30,000; as another testament to Naruto's heroism, however, he had used the Tailed Beast's chakras to utilize an unknown reanimation jutsu, which he hadn't revealed to anyone, instead of using it in his fight with Tobi. He had the jutsu sealed in a scroll which was in the black box that Naruto had asked Sai to bring to the Kages; when the scroll was opened the jutsu was released, reviving the shinobi who had perished up until that time; some of them, however, were still injured to varying degrees and had to be treated. The fact that the Allied Forces were able to relocate from their original base in the Land of Lightning in such short time was nothing short of surprising.

These issues, important though they were, were not the primary concern of the Raikage, who goes by the alias A; he made his main concern known at this point.

"Hokage, has _his _team finished setting up their camp?" he asked with a large amount of anger simmering in his voice; his contempt was not directed at Tsunade, of course, but at "him". Tsunade nodded in reply.

"Sasuke and his team just finished; Kakashi is now briefing them on their new duties," she said to which the Raikage sighed.

"I hope that we don't end up paying the price for trying to honor Naruto's last request," he grunted; as much as he didn't want to spare the Uchiha's life he, along with the rest of the shinobi alliance, were just unwilling to deny Naruto's last request.

When Sasuke was, along with the rest of Taka, arrested and brought before the Kages, A was the last one to consent to sparing them and had only done so for two reasons. The first one was that the Kages consented to his terms for the 2-year exile period that Sasuke and his team were sentenced to; in addition to fighting for the Allied Shinobi Forces, the members of Taka would have to go on various missions that were almost suicidal in their difficulty. The second reason behind A's mercy was found in a letter from Naruto which was in the same box as the scroll with the sealed jutsu; the last request Naruto made was, naturally, that Sasuke's life, as well as that of his team members, be spared. In addition to the terms of Sasuke exile A, out of respect for the fallen hero and out of fear of the response from the shinobi forces should he refuse Naruto's last wish, relented in his desire for the Uchiha's blood.

Tsunade understood what A was trying to imply.

"Only time will tell if he turns on us; rest assured, however, that we will do what is necessary should that happen," she replied. The Kages then refocused their attention to Inoichi's reports...

[Shinobi Forces Advance Camp, East of Shinobi Alliance Headquarters]

_Meanwhile…._

The small and secluded camp, located between the Land of the Waterfall and the Land of Sound, was like any one of the small outposts situated around the SAH with the only distinguishing feature being the shinobi residing in it. They were the most hated people in the shinobi world right now after the members of the Remnant, with one of them garnering particular venom from the Allied Forces. That person was now standing in front of his new commanding officer alongside his team as the commander was giving them their orders. The officer, Kakashi Hatake, knew this young man very well as they had once, alongside Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki, been a part of Konoha's Squad 7.

"….those are your orders as of right now. Am I to be understood, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked the young Uchiha.

"Yes," Sasuke replied. The orders they were referring to were rather extreme by the standards of the shinobi; Sasuke, along with his teammates Suigetsu Hōzuki, Jūgo, and Karin had three main missions. The first one was to observe any enemy movements that might prelude an attack on either the shinobi forces, the nations to the east of their camp (A/N: the Lands of Sound, Hot Water, Frost, and especially Lighting), or the Land of Fire and report on anything they find; this would be the main duty for Karin as her Mind's Eye of the Kagura (MEK)makes her more than capable of observing such a large area. The second mission was for Taka to track down all those who were still marked with Orochimaru's Cursed Seal of Heaven; when Sasuke had revealed how he had, against all common sense, revived Orochimaru the prevention of more revivals occurring in the future was a top priority for the Allied Shinobi Forces. The third, and stickier, mission was to locate Madara, the rest of the Remnant, and their remaining forces; this was easier said than done, as even if Taka was able to locate this quarry would they still have to return to their camp and report their location before the Remnant found out that their hiding spot had been compromised. In addition, because Sasuke and his team were considered expendable by the Shinobi forces they also had to perform various other S-rank missions, all of them with almost no support; this was so the chances of survival for Taka were extremely low.

Kakashi, having finished his briefing, decided that it was time to head back to the SAH. When Kakashi was out of Karin's sensory range, Sasuke turned to his teammates.

"I need you guys to stay here; I need to be alone for a bit," he said; all three nodded in understanding. As Sasuke got out of their line of sight, Suigetsu turned his attention to Karin.

"Aren't you going to stalk him anyways?" he chided, expecting her to actually do so; he was surprised by her actual response.

"So he could try to kill me again? I told you already that I'm done with Sasuke. I'm here because I had no say in the matter," she replied very angrily before sitting on her began using the MEK. Suigetsu decided to leave her alone so as not to provoke her; he decided to speak with Jugo.

"Sasuke's been rather moody lately, hasn't he?" he asked Jugo, to which he nodded.

"Considering his relationship with that Naruto character as well as what happened last week, I'm just relieved that he's handling it as he is now. It's as if he sees himself as the one responsible for his death," he said; his words were certainly accurate to the letter. Sasuke was, after swearing to kill Naruto himself only a few weeks prior was now, in the ultimate irony, the one person burdening himself with greatest amount of guilt over his friend's death even though he hadn't done the deed personally. He had been so focused on "purifying" his clan that he failed to realize that the true mastermind behind its destruction was the man aiding him in his efforts to destroy Konoha until it was too late.

As he stood in front of a small lake 20 yards from the camp, Sasuke cursed himself as he looked at his own reflection.

"_How could I have been so blinded to the truth? How could have been so damn weak? Now because of me Naruto's dead; I only ended up shaming my brother and my clan in the end…_" he thought as memories of his friend raced through his mind as well as Kurama's warning to him when they had crossed paths.

"_You had better not kill Naruto, as you will only end up regretting it_ (A/N: Not sure if this is accurate word-for-word, but it's meaning is the same regardless)_,_" he had warned him.

"_I should've taken that damn Biju's warning to heart,_" the Uchiha thought to himself. After a few minutes of looking blankly at his reflection, Sasuke turned his attention to the edge of a large forest to his right.

"If you've come to avenge Naruto's death, I have no intention of stopping you, Shikamaru," he said with an emotionless tone as the Nara clansman appeared from the shadows.

"As much as some of us from the Hidden Leaf would've taken you up on that offer, just thinking of what Naruto would do to me in the afterlife is enough for me to pass; besides, the way some of us see it, you took a blow meant to Naruto and you were not the one that fought Naruto to the death, so you I have no reason to kill you as far as revenge is concerned," he said getting a raised eyebrow from Sasuke.

"Why are you here, then? Last time I heard you're the proxy commander for Gaara's division, so don't you have somewhere you have to be?" Sasuke pointed out.

"Sakura and the others needed to speak with you; we won't be going far, so just follow me," Shikamaru replied, motioning for Sasuke to follow him; after a few minutes they both arrived at a clearing 90 yards away from Sasuke's camp. The Uchiha soon stood before the Sakura, Sai, and the rest of the Konoha 11. Sasuke sighed.

"I take it you guys want something from me?" he asked. Kiba was the first to respond.

"Shikamaru told us that you're supposed to track down Madara; is it true?" he asked. Sasuke, though somewhat taken aback by this, nodded in reply.

"I'm guessing that you all are planning to fight him?" he asked.

"That's right." It was Sakura who had replied, surprising Sasuke.

(A/N: Before any one says anything, remember these two things: 1. Sasuke, Sai, and the members of the Konoha 11 did not witness Madara's abilties firsthand [they would've heard of them, of course, but obviously hearing about something and witnessing it firsthand are two different things]; 2. They had just lost someone dear to them after he tried to end the war so, as one would expect that they want to finish his job for him)

"I'm surprised the Kages would allow you to go through with this," Sasuke stated.

"Milady and the others don't know that we're planning to do this, Sasuke; this is something we plan to do on our own accord," Sakura replied; while Sasuke looked at her with a bit of surprise evident in his expression, Neji decided to clarify what they wanted from him.

"Anyways, we're simply asking you to keep looking for him; if you do track him down, however, we want you to inform us and to keep it a secret from the higher-ups. Simply send the message to Shikamaru through one of your hawk summonings and we'll take it from there," the Hyuga said. Sasuke looked at each of the shinobi before he replied.

"I'll agree to it…. if you guys allow me to join you," Sasuke said; everyone eyes widened at this request. Sai was the first to voice his surprise.

"Are you sure you want to do that?"

Sasuke thought back to his memories of Naruto before he replied.

"Because of my actions Naruto is gone; I'm just as responsible for it as those two bastards even if I wasn't the one did the dirty work. As far as I'm concerned the only thing I could do for him now is to end this war by whatever means necessary," he said.

"What about the members of your team, Sasuke?" the question came from Shino; though Sasuke was willing to fight Madara his team, not knowing Naruto as well, were not as inclined to partake on this endeavor.

"When the time comes I'll place them in a genjutsu so that they won't get in the way. Do we have a deal?" Sasuke asked. After a few moments of silence Shikamaru decided to respond.

"This is such a drag… but if what everyone is saying about Madara is true, then we'll need all the help we can get," Shikamaru said, thereby earning Sasuke's cooperation; as the Leaf shinobi went back to the SAH they, along with the Uchiha, were unknowingly headed towards a collision course that no one in the Shinobi world could have ever seen coming…..

Next Time – The Gathering Storm


	8. 6: The Gathering Storm

**Chapter 6 – The Gathering Storm**

A/N # 1: I'd like to thank those who voted in my previous poll; the results of it will reveal themselves in before this story reaches 20 chapters, I promise; for those who didn't vote, I'll leave the topic to your imaginations. ;)-

A/N # 2: I just noticed that this story already has 100+ favs and follows (each); I thank all of you readers for your continued support. Please keep reviewing, faving, and following.

To Allan: I thank you for your praise; it means a lot to me. By the way, as far as shinobi go only Naruto and a few others (who came before him) are going to appear in the Bleach World (Naruto, in fact, is the only one who'll appear in the world of the living, with the others living in the Soul Society); the ones that came before him, however, will appear in this story at some point (most likely in Part 2). I want to finish my note to you by suggesting that you create an account so that I can send these messages to you personally.

Please keep sending more reviews, favs, and follows!

Disclaimer: It still applies.

[Urahara Shop, Karakura Town, Human Realm]

_Current Time…._

The carnage the people observing Naruto's fight with Ichigo were witnessing made Kisuke's training facility look like a scene right out of a World War II battlefield; the fight had left the secret training area with several new craters, canyons, and upturned boulders among the growing list of new features. The damage incurred in the training extended to the damage inflicted on both fighters. Yoruichi, who was one of the spectators, turned to Kisuke as another clang indicated that Tensa Zangetsu and Kenja had collided again.

"Should we tell those two to stop?" she asked him, to which Kisuke shook his head.

"Naruto still needs a little more time to get used to fighting with a zanpakuto before he can begin his official training, so let them duke it out; besides this fight is too enjoyable for me to end it," Kisuke replied; now it was Yoruichi who was shaking her head. Kisuke then sighed before he continued speaking.

"Though I'll be honest, I never thought that he would be this powerful; even with the amount of spiritual energy Naruto has, I never imagined he could unleash so much of it with just his Shikai alone or that he would be able to fight on the same level with Ichigo despite his lack of expierience…." Kisuke stated as Naruto dodged a barrage of attacks from Ichigo. Naruto then stepped back until he had created a distance of about 30 yards between himself and the Substitute Soul Reaper; he then made a hand seal while holding his zanpakuto in his right elbow pit.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu," he yelled before getting engulfed in a cloud of smoke; the smoke dissipated quickly, revealing that Naruto had created 21 clones, all of them wielding a copy of his zanpakuto; the copies, though having the same amount of spiritual pressure as the real Kenja, were still copies of the original and would disperse along with their respective clone then the clone was dispersed; this didn't make these clones any less dangerous, however, as Ichigo and the others knew all too well, having experienced what Naruto could do with this jutsu first hand.

"_How can he keep making so many clones?_" Ichigo thought to himself as he tried to assess the situation. The fight had gone on for about 2 hours already, despite the fact that he and his "student"/opponent were already seriously injured, with Naruto in only slightly worse shape than he was. They had also stretched their stamina, in terms of both their physical endurance and their levels of energy, to their respective limits; despite having levels of stamina that were beyond comprehension neither Ichigo nor Naruto had ever forced so much of their energy in such a short time, if the fact that the top half of Ichigo's shihakushō was completely missing was anything to go by (A/N: For those of you who didn't know, Ichigo shihakushō, when he's using his bankai, can be used to measure how much spiritual pressure he has left; the more it's damaged, the less spiritual pressure he has left). As Ichigo pushed those thought aside ten of Naruto's shadow clones came charging at him. Ichigo dodged a slash from the first clone and slashed it across the chest which caused the clone to disperse; Ichigo then began to build up his spiritual pressure for a very large Getsuga Tenshō as the other clones began closing in on him. The real Naruto, meanwhile, silently cursed his predicament; he and 11 of the other clones had been preparing to use four Rasenshurikens but now, with Ichigo about to use his zanpakuto's signature technique, he caught Naruto in a bind. If Naruto still attempted to complete the Rasenshuriken Ichigo would catch him and his clones in his Getsuga since he could use his attack in before Naruto could fully complete his; if Naruto tried to dispel the uncompleted jutsu the wind chakra, which is unstable due to the fact that the nature transformation hadn't been completed, would cause significant damage to his right arm and could potentially render it unusable for the rest of the fight.

"_Damn it, I'm in trouble; what do I do now? Think, Naruto, think,_" Naruto thought to himself. Before Naruto even realized it he suddenly found himself standing before Kenja in his spiritual state.

"_You do realize that I'm still here, right?_" she asked him as if she was mocking him. Naruto's eyes twitched in annoyance.

"_If you have an idea why don't you just tell me what it is?_" Naruto asked the newest resident within his mind in an irritated tone.

"_You do know that I have special attacks and abilities as well, right? I can aid you with the use of one of these abilities right now, until you are able to train yourself to use it along with the others,_" she told him. Naruto sighed at explanation this before he replied.

"_And what about my Rasenshuriken? I can't just dispel it without injuring my arm; Kurama has a harder time healing wounds caused by my wind chakra attacks._" He was only referring, of course, to the instances where his wind-style jutsu would disperse when he hadn't properly mastered the use of his nature release.

"_Then don't dispel the attack; I was actually going to use the chakra from your Rasenshuriken to help you perform the attack,_" she claimed; Naruto was taken aback by this suggestion.

"_I thought that a zanpakuto used Spiritual energy; how are you able to use chakra?_" he asked her; Kenja shook her head before she answered him.

"_You're right about me not being able to use chakra; what I am able to do, however, is to convert your chakra into spiritual energy._"

Naruto was about to respond but was cut off by his zanpakuto, who hadn't finished her explanation.

"_Do you remember when Rukia mentioned that the abilities of a zanpakuto are determined by the soul and personality of its wielder? You're no exception to that rule Naruto; the difference here is that you have the abilities of both a ninja and a Soul Reaper and, as a direct result of this, I have the ability to convert chakra into spiritual energy into chakra and vice-versa,_" she explained; after a few moments Naruto smirked.

"_Then what're we waiting for?_" he asked to which Kenja smiled.

"_There's one more thing you should know, Naruto,_" she said before she told him what it was. Outside of Naruto's mind Ichigo had just about finished the buildup of his spiritual pressure for his Getsuga; though Naruto and Kenja had been conversing for a good while in his spiritual state, the world around Naruto had only advanced a few milliseconds. As he was too focused on trying to aim his attack so it would hit Naruto and the attacking clones Ichigo failed to notice that the clones that were standing beside Naruto had vanished. Ichigo also didn't realize that the Rasenshuriken Naruto was preparing had also vanished; Naruto was now holding his zanpakuto with both hands. The right hand gripped the staff near its center while his left hand was placed just above one of the metal plated bases; the position that Naruto held the staff gave the impression that he was going to swing the staff. Everyone watching the fight, with Kurama being the only exception, realized that Naruto's new stance mirrored that of Ichigo's when the latter uses his Getsuga, just like the he is about right now; the spectators, for lack of a more fitting word, were extremely confused, though Renji was the only one to voice his confusion.

"What the hell is Naruto doing? Does he-?" he said before an immense amount of spiritual pressure was unleashed by Naruto. Ichigo's face, not surprisingly, paled at this development; he, at this moment, decided to unleash his attack.

"Getsuga Tenshō!" he roared as he swung his blade, releasing the deadly mass of black spiritual energy. The moment the Getsuga destroyed the nine remaining shadow clones, Naruto unleashed his attack, the name of which he had learned from Kenja.

"Idai Bōfū! (A/N: Roughly translates to "Great Windstorm"; I made it as almost of a foil to both the Getsuga Tenshō and the Wind Style: Rasenshuriken)" Naruto roared in reply.

Ichigo then watched in horror as Naruto channeled his spritual pressure through the upper half of his zanpakuto forming a wave of spiritual energy that . Everyone, including Ichigo, were even more shocked when Naruto then created a very powerful and condensed gust of wind which now enveloped the wave of spiritual energy creating a sort of invisible outer shell for the attack while Naruto's orange spiritual was still visible from the inside, creating a core for the attack; the attack was essentially two very powerful flying buzzsaws that were put together into one attack.

Naruto swung his staff, unleashing his wind-enhanced spiritual attack which it soon collided with Ichigo's attack. The resulting explosion caused a mini-earthquake inside the training area, causing everyone in there to look on in awe at the power of these two combatants. Ichigo thought the he at least managed to stop Naruto's Idai. Ichigo's assumption was soon dashed, however, when he was struck by the shell of wind that was part of Naruto's attack; Ichigo, who received a number of serious wounds all across his bodies as aresult, had only blunted the wave of spiritual pressure that formed the core of the Idai Bōfū.

Since his attempts to overpower the ninja were not working, Ichigo decided to try to beat Naruto with his speed as he hadn't seen any clear indications that the ninja could match him in that aspect. Ichigo flash stepped just as Naruto began charging towards him; Naruto stopped his attack as the speed at which Ichigo was moving created a series of afterimages. This shocked Naruto greatly; the times that Naruto had witnessed Ichigo's Bankai did not force the Soul Reaper to use his speed, so the ninja/Soul Reaper didn't expect Ichigo to move that fast. Ichigo, after slashing Naruto several times, decides to mock him.

"I am going too slow for you, Naruto? I could go a little faster if you want," Ichigo taunted as he went to attack Naruto again; Ichigo managed to slash Naruto across the chest, ending the fight….. or so he thought. Naruto simply gave a light chuckle, slightly irritating Ichigo.

"What's so funny, Naru-?" he asked before "Naruto" vanished in a puff of smoke. Unbeknownst to Ichigo the real Naruto had use the cover of the explosion from the collision of Ichigo's Getsuga with his Bōfū to swap places with one of his clones, which was what Ichigo had been slashing at. Before Ichigo realized what had happened Naruto appeared behind him.

"Guess what, Ichigo? I can go fast to," he said.

Ichigo turned to find Naruto right behind him squatting and clasping his hands together, with the middle and index fingers pointed out. While he could have reacted to this turn of events, Ichigo was too confused by what Naruto was doing for the idea to register in his mind.

"What the-?" was the only thing Ichigo could say before Naruto gave him a mischievous smile.

"Leaf Village Secret Finger Jutsu:…" he roared as he placed he fingers in the place where the sun don't shine, so to speak. Ichigo suddenly felt a sharp pain in his ass and was suddenly propelled forward as Naruto finished declaring the name of this "jutsu".

"…One Thousand Years of Death!"

Everyone in the room looked at this scene with obvious horror; half of the people there were just thinking about how "wrong" this was while the other half were thinking of what they would do to Naruto if he tried this stunt on them.

Ichigo, meanwhile, had landed about 100 yards from where Naruto had humiliated him, as he stood back up Ichigo was suddenly surrounded by three Rasenshurikens. Naruto had actually used the "jutsu" to send Ichigo into this trap (and to get some payback against the Soul Reaper for the whole Shattered Shaft episode), though the use of these Raenshurikens drained the clones of the rest of their chakra, causing them to dissipate. Ichigo, whose body had also reached its breaking point, use the last bit of endurance he had to perform another flash step just before the three attacks collided with each other at the spot where he just was. After Ichigo observed the massive explosion that nearly consumed him leave yet another large crater in its wake, he went to find Naruto so he could end the battle, only to find that Naruto was on the ground; he had used the last of his energy to attack him with one of the Rasenshurikens and finally collapsed due to his exhaustion and injuries. Ichigo walked up to the blonde-haired ninja/Soul Reaper who was still, though barely, conscious.

"Heh…I won't lose to you next time, Ichigo…." Naruto said before he finally lost consciousness. As Ichigo stood there, his breath coming in heavy gasps, Kisuke, Yoruichi, and everyone else walked up to the two Soul Reapers. Kurama looked at Naruto, then at Ichigo.

"I'm impressed, Ichigo; I never imagined that you would defeat Naruto so easily," he said; he was surprised when Ichigo shook his head at this comment.

"That's where you wrong, Kurama; I actually should have lost this fight," he said, getting shocked glances from the others.

"What are you talking about, Ichigo?" The question was made by, of all people, Uryu. Ichigo decided to tell them the truth.

"The reality is that Naruto is already stronger than I am; he stopped using Kurama's chakra some point in the fight and was still way past my level. The only reason I'm still standing is because he had no experience in using his Soul Reaper powers, nothing more. Give him just a week of training and this fight…. would have ended…. differently…." he said before he fainted, his wounds and exhaustion having taken its toll on him as well. Kisuke looked at Kurama, who nodded back; this confirmed, in Kisuke' mind, Ichigo's claim about Naruto having stopped his use of the Tailed Beast's chakra. He then motioned for Orihime to come and begin healing both combatants before turning his attention to Yoruichi.

"I guess, in the end, they've both earned a trip to Isshin's clinic," he said as Kurama's chakra had already begun to heal Naruto's injuries. Yoruichi was inclined to agree with the former 12th division captian; even though they would only need a few days, both Ichigo and Naruto would still needed proper medical treatment due to their extreme injuries. Toshiro was shocked by this display of the young ninja's strength and had almost decided not to make this next statement, which he directed at Kurama as if it were a question.

"I hope young Naruto's growth rate is as great as his fighting ability," he said to which Kurama simply smiled back.

"You have no idea."

That was the only thing Kurama said to him; he, along with everyone else in the training area, had no idea how thankful they would be for that growth rate. For while they were observing this battle, another group was planning for a battle of its own….

[Espada Meeting Room, Las Noches, Hueco Mundo]

_A week later…. _

It had taken a long time for Sosuke Aizen, the ruler of Las Noches and former captain in the Gotei 13, to bring the current Espada together as a force; it had now taken a similarly unbearable amount of time for them to just return to the fortress for this important meeting. At least five of them had been searching, on Aizen's orders, for more Vasto Lordes-class Menos; it had taken six days just for the new order to reach these Espada and another two and a half days for these Espada to return to Las Noches. Aizen could only hope that the efforts he made to create this force would not be in vain as dealing with the Espada, and the rest of the Arrancar Army for that matter, had always was such a pain. With his ability to mask his emotions, so to speak, the Espada were unaware of their leader's dislike of them even as they were next to him as they waited for their meeting to begin.

After a few minutes of silence Aizen, with his subordinates Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tosen seated beside him, decided to begin the meeting.

"Please enter, Ulquiorra," Aizen commanded as a door on the far side of the room opened; Ulquiorra, who had returned to Las Noches at the same time that Naruto and the Soul Reapers had arrived at Karakura Town, had already given his report to Aizen and was now going to present it to his fellow Espada. Ulquiorra looked at Aizen as if he were waiting for an order; when Aizen nodded, the 4th Espada removed, and subsequently crushed, his left eye. An image soon formed from the ashes of the crushed eye, showing a "recording" of Ulquiorra's encounter with Naruto.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the Espada, we have an approaching threat of the highest level; it would appear that the Sage of the Six Path's reincarnate has finally appeared…" Aizen declared as he and his subordinates discussed their plans to deal with the blonde-haired ninja…

Next Time – Darkness Approaches

To Allan(and everyone else): I know that Aizen's appearance is brief in this chapter; do not worry however, as he, and his lackeys, will play a big role in this story. Just have a little patience, please.


	9. 7: Darkness Approaches

**Chapter 7 – Darkness Approaches**

Please keep sending favs, follows, and reviews.

Disclaimer: Still applies.

[Espada Meeting Room, Las Noches, Hueco Mundo]

_Current Time…._

Recap:

"Ladies and gentlemen of the Espada, we have the approaching threat of the highest level; it would appear that the Sage of the Six Path's reincarnate has appeared…" Aizen declared. 

After Ulquiorra paused the recording at the point that Naruto had dodged his attack Aizen informed the Espada of the situation regarding this person; as he gave this explanation some of the Espada weren't convinced that the blonde-haired teenager was even worth Aizen's time since he appeared, to them at least, very similar to Ichigo Kurosaki whom Aizen had also invested an interest in and he was viewed as trash by the Arrancar after Ulquiorra and Yammy Llargo's encounter with Kurosaki.

"What do think of him, Ulquiorra?" Aizen asked the Espada, well aware of the skepticism among the Arrancars.

"He is very similar to Kurosaki; his power, however, is far greater than that piece of trash," Ulquiorra replied before he looked at Aizen as if he was making sure that Aizen approved of what he would say next. Aizen nodded.

"I would go as far as to say that he may even be more powerful than Lord Aizen," Ulquiorra claimed as everyone's eyes widened, except Aizen's, Gin's, and Tosen's, at what the Fourth Espada said.

"If that's the case then why did you not capture the boy as you were ordered to?"

The question came from Gin who was sporting his fox-like grin as he usually was; the former 3rd Division captain had been informed of the ninja's arrival a few minutes after Aizen and was suprised that to find that Ulquiorra had returned without his target.

"Because I had also ordered him to return without the boy if he was spotted by any Soul Reaper," Aizen said in defense of the Espada; Ulquiorra then continued his recording, which ended shortly after Ichigo, Rukia, Kenpachi, and Byakuya interrupted the fight.

"How was the Gotei 13 able to respond so quickly when they're still reeling from the attack by Kurosaki and the other humans?" Gin asked Aizen; Aizen just shook his head.

"It is of no concern to us; the only thing we must focus on is determining how we will deal with the ninja," Aizen replied; though Tosen and the Espada didn't catch up on it Gin, who was able to read Aizen's manipulations, realized that Aizen did not know how the enemy had responded so quickly and was unnerved by this, even if the former captain of the 5th Division didn't reveal it.

"I'm sending a force of 5 of you to go to Karakura Town, where the shinobi is currently located; since he'll have undoubtebly awakened his Soul Reaper abilities you will only attempt to gauge his abilities, so do not try to capture him yet. Those of you who are on this force will not be bringing your fracciones if you have any," Aizen said as everyone looked at him as if he had gone mad.

"Are you certain that such a force is necessary, Lord Aizen?" Tosen asked.

"If this is boy is even half as powerful as the Sage of the Sith Paths was said to be then he must be approached with extreme caution; anyone below Espada-level would not survive an encounter with this child and it is too early to begin suffering casualties," Aizen replied before he assembled this strike force. Ulquiorra then opened a Garganta for the group of Espada, which included Ulquiorra, Yammy, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Coyote Starrk, and Tier Harribel; Lillynette Gingerbuck, who was not an Espada, was also allowed to go as Starrk had sealed his power within her instead of a zanpakuto, to go to the Human Realm. After the Garganta closed behind the group the rest of Espada left the meeting room, leaving Aizen with his fellow ex-captains.

"Is this boy that important?" Gin asked.

"I never thought that the Sage's reincarnate would appear at this moment and I didn't plan for it; before we can proceed any further we must know who we're dealing with," Aizen explained; the traitor to the Soul Society could only hope that he was wrong about the ninja.

[Urahara Shop]

_Meanwhile..._

Different.

If you asked Kisuke to describe Naruto after two weeks of observing the ninja, this would be the only word you he could use, which would come as a surprise to many of those who are aquianted with the former 12th Division captain. Kisuke had a feeling that Naruto would be viewed with the same sentiment in his own world. The closest person that Urahara compare the ninja to was Ichigo and, despite the fact that they were similar, that still be selling the ninja short; Naruto's training was proof of this.

It has been a week since Naruto and Ichigo had fought one another; Kisuke had both Soul Reapers sent to Isshin's clinic to recover some of their minor wounds so as not to arouse any suspicions from those in Karakura Town who were not aware of who Naruto truly was. Naruto had recovered from his injuries only half a day after the fight; after Ichigo had recovered from his wounds a few hours later Naruto began his actual training under the Substitute Soul Reaper with Yoruichi also helping with his training. It was slow going in the first couple of hours as Naruto was a slow learner, at least when the two Soul Reapers tried to explain the lessons to him; that changed instantaneously, however, when they decided to have Naruto learn these techniques through experience. They never imagined that anyone could have a growth rate this monstrous; Ichigo, who had a ridiculous growth rate himself, might take a couple of days to complete a lesson whereas Naruto could complete that same lesson in a couple of hours and that's if he's not using his unusual training method that had him use his shadow clones.

After first mastering the use of Shunpo and Zanjutsu he then proceeded to master the use of the special abilities his zanpakuto, Kenja. Since Naruto's shadow clones were useless when it came to this part of the training it took Naruto a little more time to complete than the others. Just trying to figure out what type of zanpakuto Kenja is was a challenge since she had multiple abilities across no less than three different zapakuto types; Kenja is essentially a melee-type, wind-type, and, strangely enough, sealing-kido type zanpakuto all in one blade or, to be more correct, staff. It was the sealing-type capabilities of his zanpakuto that he was learning to use right now since there was not much else they could teach him, other than Bankai of course.

While everyone else was either training for the upcoming war with Aizen or attending to other matter, important or otherwise, Naruto was trying to catch Yoruichi with one of his zanpakuto's seals; while the chances of actually catching the Goddess of Flash were slim to none, this exercise would help him learn to better utilize these seals.

As Yoruichi dodged another of Naruto's seals, Ichigo, Kisuke, and Kurama observed the ninja's training; while Ichigo was usually the one helping Naruto with his zanpakuto training this lesson required the faster of Naruto's two mentors.

"Is she too fast for you to handle, Naruto?" Ichigo taunted, to which Naruto responded by releasing a nearby shadow clone; when that happened Naruto's eyes changed, with his irides turning yellow, his pupils becoming horizontal bars, and reddish-orange pigmentation appearing around his eyes. Ichigo paled at seeing that Naruto had switched to Sage Mode so quickly.

"And I thought Naruto had some sort of death wish. If Naruto accidently kills you, Ichigo, using Shunkō can I have Zangetsu?" Kurama asked Ichigo in a mocking manner; Kurama, after obtaining a human form, had gained a mischievious side like Kenja and Naruto, though it was far more subtle by comparison.

"Shut up!" Ichigo roared back at Kurama; he clearly did not find the Tailed Beast's sense of humor amusing since Naruto had nearly killed him before he had fully mastered the use of the Hakuda/Kido hybrid technique.

Before Kurama even had a chance to laugh at Ichigo's reaction he, Naruto, Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Toshiro, who was one the other Soul Reapers in the training area at the time, sensed the spiritual pressure of what appeared to be six Arrancars, five of them being at Espada-level. After a few tense moments of silence Naruto finally voiced the feelings that all Soul Reapers present were most certainly harboring.

"I guess Aizen's little war had finally started," he said.

[On the Outskirts of Karakura Town, Human Realm]

_A Few Minutes Later..._

The five Espada arrived in the World of Living and immediately proceeded with objectives; Starrk, Lillynette, and Grimmjow attempted to divert the attention of the Soul Reapers, with Grimmjow also attempting to attract the attention of Kurosaki so that he could finish the fight that Ulquiorra didn't, While Yammy, Ulquiorra, and Harribel attempting to lure out Naruto.

After the first two "groups" fanned out, Yammy turned to his fellow Espada.

"So are we going to draw this kid out, Ulquiorra?" the 10th/0 Espada asked.

"The same way we lured Kurosaki to us; we will attack the people of this town though this time it'll only be those with above average levels of spiritual pressure," Ulquiorra explained as his group began to move, looking for any unfortunate soul who was spiritually aware...

Next Time - Invasion: The Espada Attack!

A/N # 1: I apologize if this chapter is a little shorter than you readers would have liked; I am trying to save the suspense for these last chapters of part one(there are more parts to this story so don't worry about the story ending anytime soon); as for the lack of details in Naruto's training it would've been too time-consuming to write this chapter if I went any further than I already have.

A/N # 2: Some of Kenja's sealing techniques will be revealed later, which is why I didn't write about them in detail in this chapter.


	10. 8: Invasion - The Espada Attack!

**Chapter 8 – Invasion: The Espada Attack!**

A/N # 1: This may feel little more scattered than the others, but this is so that I can write the following 7-8 chapters more easily.

Please keep sending favs, follows and especially, since I get far less of these, reviews.

Disclaimer: Still applies.

[Somewhere in Karakura Town, Human Realm]

_Current Time..._

Recap:

"So how are we going to draw this kid out, Ulquiorra?" the 10th/0 Espada asked.

"The same way we lured Kurosaki to us; we will attack the people of this town though this time it'll only be those with above average levels of spiritual pressure," Ulquiorra explained as his group began to move, looking for any unfortunate soul who was spiritually aware...

While Ulquiorra, Harribel, and Yammy attempted to flush out Naruto, Grimmjow, in an attempt to draw out Ichigo, began searching for anyone with spritual pressure to attack; after searching for a few minutes he was surprised when he came across his very target standing before him.

"Are you Ichigo Kurosaki?" he asked to which the Substitute Soul Reaper nodded in reply.

"I'm the 6th Espada, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, and I'm the Arrancar that's going to kill you," Grimmjow proclaimed; Ichigo, in response to Grimmjow's declaration, was about to "unsheathe" Zangetsu when Rukia, who was standing by his side, tried to prevent him from fighting.

"We can't risk having your inner hollow break out, Ichigo, and you still haven't fully recovered from you're fight with Naruto. You need to fall back," she said; Ichigo, despite having most of his wounds healed, still had a few organs that were still recovering from that slugfest. Ichigo, naturally, refused to listen.

"This guy's after me; if I don't fight him someone else going to get attacked by this guy," Ichigo said; before Rukia could reply Grimmjow, using their argument as an opening, snuck up on the unseated officer of the 13 division and proceeded to impale her in the abdomen. As Rukia fell to the ground, having been rendered unconcious but was still alive, Grimmjow turned his attention to Ichigo, whose eyes were suddenly filled with a rage that bordered on killing intent.

"You're next, Kurosaki," Grimmjow said with a maniacal grin on his face while Ichigo unleashed his spiritual spiritual pressure.

"Bankai!" he roared as his sword shrunk to its familiar black straight sword form. At this point Renji, who had just arrived, went to Rukia's side; seeing that she was not in immediate danger he prepared to engage the Espada until Ichigo got in front of the 6th Division Lieutenant.

"I'll face this guy; you have to get Rukia to safety," Ichigo said; after a short argument that Grimmjow, miraculously, did not interrupt, Renji finally agreed to get Rukia out of harm's way. Once the two Soul Reapers had left Ichigo turned his attention to the Espada.

"I'll kill you for what you've done," Ichigo hissed as he and the Espada prepared to clash.

[Elsewhere]

Toshiro, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Rangiku, and Chad had confronted Coyote and Lilynette before they got to the city limits; as every readied themselves for battle Toshiro, as the highest ranked Reaper present, decided to question the Espada before the fight began.

"Where are the other Arrancars? We know there are four other ones and three of them have not attacked any of us; their spiritual pressure has also vanished," Toshiro asked the lazy-eyed Starrk.

"I'm not allowed to tell you Soul Reapers; I'm just here to draw you out," the 1st Espada replied as he drew his zanpakuto. Toshiro was confused by the second part of the Espada's sentence for a few moments; once it's meaning finally hit him, however, the Captain's eyes widened in shock.

"_The other Arrancars must be after Naruto,_" Toshiro reasoned; he was about to tell Rangiku, his lieutenan,t to inform Kisuke of this when the Espada used his Sonido to appear in front of Hitsugaya. The silver-haired Soul Reaper barely had enough time to block Starrk's attacks.

"As much I would prefer to avoid going into battle I'm afraid my orders were clear; I can't let you Soul Reapers interfere," the Espada said as the other Soul Reapers released their respective zanpakutos while Chad activated his Brazo Derecha del Gigante...

[Hidden Training Area, Urahara Shop]

_Meanwhile..._

The employees of the shop were hiding in fear of what they were seeing; one of the Gotei 13 captains had arrived at from the Soul Society only moments ago and had asked Yoruichi if she could meet Naruto. Unfortunately Kisuke had informed her that Naruto gone missing a few minutes ago.

Urahara had tried to force Naruto to stay in his psuedo-body in order to keep him hidden; in all of the mayhem that was occuring Urahara had forgotten, somehow, that Naruto did not separate from his body like Ichigo and the others when he went into his Soul Reaper form. Naruto used this cockup, on Kisuke's part, to his advantage by making two clones, having one of them transform into Kurama's human form while using the Tailed Beast's chakra to perform that transformation.

While Kurama, who was able to reenter Naruto's body at anytime, went back into Naruto's body, the clone that did not transform asked for a bottle of water; after receving that bottle the clone went to where his original was hiding. The ninja then transformed into an exact copy of the bottle while the clone drank all of the water in the actual bottle; after hiding that bottle in one of his pouches the clone then got one Jinta to go throw the "bottle" since the nearest trash can was at the entrance to the store. Once Jinta threw the fake bottle away and went back into the training area under the store Naruto release the transformtaion jutsu and, while keeping his power suppressed, made his escape, with Kurama coming out of Naruto when they had gotten a few miles away from the store. It was at that point that both Kisuke and Yoruichi discovered what had happened.

All-in-all, this escape took a few minutes to complete; despite the brilliance of the plan, however, Soifon was still not amused.

"HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW WHERE UZUMAKI IS, YOU DUMBASS!?" she roared at the helpless shopkeeper as she tried to kick him in the face; while Urahara knew that she still despised him he didn't expect her to be in that much of a bad mood. Yoruichi was equally surprised by this display of rage.

"Now what's with the sudden temper, Soifon?" the Goddess of Flash asked, almost mockingly, as her former student continued to try, unsuccessfully, to land a blow on her _second_ least favorite person in the universe. That distinction had, for the time being gone, to someone that Soifon has yet to met.

Soifon had learned that Yoruichi had trained Naruto in the use of the Shunpo and Shunkō through the reports brought in by the Executive Militia; while this had undoubtedly angered the Captain 2nd Division she was even more infuriated when she also learned that this Chakra Realm ninja had, supposedly, perfected the signature technique of Corps Commanders of the Executive Militia to an even greater extent than either she or her former mentor. It was this last claim that compelled her to go to Karakura Town when she got the opportunity to do so; when Soifon arrived she found out, however, that not only found had the Espada begun their attack only a few minutes prior but that the object of her new grudge, who was also the one that the Arrancars were likely after, haad given both Kisuke and Yoruichi the slip. The 2nd Division Captain was, obviously, not happy about any of this.

Soifon was about to explain herself when, out of nowhere, a sudden surge of spiritual pressure from three more individuals emanated from the outskirts on far side of town. Soifon, Kisuke, and Yoruichi then felt their hearts stop cold when another individual near the first three released his/her spiritual pressure; unlike the other three, however, this one had another energy emanating from, an energy that was also being released by a fifth person.

"Those two fools Naruto and Kurama are already fighting the Espada," Yoruichi said with apprehension, remembering that the Tailed Beast had also escaped; before she could do anything else, however, she saw that Soifon had just released the Shikai of her zanpakuto.

"Let me deal with this, Lady Yoruichi," Soifon requested; she didn't even bother to wait for a reply, however, as she left the training area a split-second later.

"Soifon!" Yoruichi yelled as her former student left, heading in the direction of the emerging battle; Yoruichi then turned to her old friend Kisuke before they both used their Shunpo. There was something they had to do before they went to that battle...

[Near the Outskirts of Karakura Town]

_While The Preceding Events Were Occuring..._

Since their fellow Arrancars had drawn out many of the spiritual aware individuals Karakura town, Ulquiorra, Yammy, and Harribel had a hard time finding anyone they could attack in order to draw their target out; Yammy, being who he is, was losing his patience.

"Come on, Ulquiorra, can we just kill anyone that we find?" he asked.

"Aizen's orders were clear on this matter, Llargo; we were ordered to only attack those with above average spiritual pressure if we needed to draw him out," Ulquiorra replied; before Yammy else could say anything else, however, the Espada noticed that a nearby human was looking at them.

It was a liitle girl with large, dark grey eyes and black hair that was straight and cropped to hang around her face. Unfortunately for her the girl also had a larger amount of spiritual pressure than a normal human.

"Who the hell are you people?" she asked; the girl shuddered when Yammy simply grinned, though the evil undertones of his grin made the girl's reaction understandable.

"Finally. Hey Ulquiorra, can I kill her?" he asked his fellow Espada; the girl eyes widened in terror when she heard this.

As the girl stood there, paralyzed with fear, Yammy walked up to her and was about to grab her when he noticed a bunch of what to be reishi arrows flying at him; the Espada simply moved out of the way as he, along with the other two Espada, saw the source of the projectiles appear before them. The girl recognized the person.

"Uryu?" the girl asked to which the Quincy nodded; before he could say anthing else another voice was heard.

"Thank goodness we found you, Karin," the voice said; Karin looked to her left and saw Orihime standing beside her.

"You two need to get out of here right now," Uryu said as he raised his spirit weapon towards the Arrancars.

"But Uryu-," Orihime said before the Yammy charged at the three; Uryu tried to stop him with his arrows, but Yammy's Hierro was deflecting every the Quincy threw at him. The Espada proceded to backhand Uryu,which sent him flying.

"Uryu!" Orihime screeched in terror before she realized that Yammy was now in front of them.

"Didn't you learn your lesson the last time we met?" the Espada asked as he threw a punch at her. She was about to activate her Shun Shun Rikka when she a familiar voice.

"You won't need to use that, Orihime."

Orihime suddenly realized that someone had blocked the Espada's punch... with only his left hand. She knew who it was without him having to say of do anything else.

"How did you find us, Naruto?" she asked the ninja/Soul Reaper; Naruto turned to her and, while still gripping Yammy, flashed his usual grin.

"One of my many skills," Naruto said; Karin, having met Naruto when he came to Ichigo's house the day after he arrived in Karakura Town, was not surprised to see him... dressed as Soul Reaper. Yammy, whose hand was still being gripped by Naruto, burst into a maniacal laugh.

"Que Suerte (A/N: Spanish for "What Luck"; Yammy is supposedly reputed to say this when he finds an amusing opponent); the brat fell for it!" Yammy yelled out; Naruto turned his head to Yammy, his expression turning serious.

"Fell for what, Espada? I know that you guys are after me; I also know that you guys were attacking innocent people in order to get me to come out. It's not like I haven't gone through this before," Naruto said; at this point Harribel, who had been silent for the whole attack up until then, decided to question him on this.

"If that's true then why did you still confront us?" the Third Espada asked.

"Because I'm not the kind of guy who just sits back while innocent people die because of me," Naruto replied, getting a raised eyebrow from the Vasto-Lorde Arrancar.

"Then you're just stupid," Yammy taunted smugly.

"And you're a weak coward; you're barely a step above trash," Naruto retorted, having learned from Ichigo and the others what the Espada tended to call their enemies. Yammy's expression suddenly turned from smug to enraged the moment he heard Naruto's insult.

"I'll kill you for that!" Yammy roared as he tried to rear his other hand back for a punch; before he could unleash that strike, however, another person appeared and punched Yammy in the gut, sending the Espada flying.

"You took your sweet time, Kurama," Naruto said to the person.

"Does it matter? I got here in time, didn't I?" Kurama said. Ignoring the Tailed Beast's reply, Naruto prepared a Rasengan; unlike the previous times, however, he didn't need a clone to form the shell. He then flash stepped right in front of the "flying" Espada.

"Rasengan!" Naruto roared as he jammed his jutsu into Yammy's gut; to the surprise of the other two Espada the jutsu caused Yammy to "fly" back like a spinning top before he was stopped by the fifth tree he had hit, which rendered him unconcious. As Naruto walked back towards Orihime and the others Kurama flash a smile.

"So how's your chakra control?" he asked his Jinchuriki, who smiled.

"It's actually not as bad as I thought it would still be," Naruto replied. Naruto, during his Soul Reaper training, had not neglected his jutsus and, while training to keep his jutsus sharp, he found that he actually had very decent chakra control now that Kurama was no longer presenting a negative influence either within him or when he was outside of his body. This, combined with the still monstrous chakra reserves from both him and Kurama, meant that he could make his jutsus a lot deadlier.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Naruto turned to Orihime.

"We're going to take this fight elsewhere; when Kurama, Cifer, that lady, and I are out of sight heal Uryu and then get yourself and Karin out of here," he said; Orihime, though concerned for Naruto's safety, nodded in reply as she knew that he, like Ichigo, would not take no for an answer. Naruto and his Tailed Beast comrade then turned to face the Espada.

"I'll take on Cifer; you shoud take on the women," Kurama said, getting a raised eyebrow from Naruto.

"Are you sure about that, Kurama?" Naruto asked; he could tell that the women was the stronger of the two and had assumed that his Tailed Beast would've wanted to face her.

"You'll probably end up using some of my chakra in the battle; though I would still be stronger than either one of these Arrancars, one can never be too careful," Kurama explained getting a nod from Naruto.

"Are you two finished talking?" Ulquiorra asked the two.

Kurama stood before the 4th Espada in response.

"Why don't we take this fight elsewhere, Ulquiorra?" Kurama asked the Espada, having heard the first converstion between the Arrancar and Naruto a copule of weeks earlier; Ulquiorra, without saying anything, simply used his Sonido to head to an area farther away from the town. After Kurama followed the Espada, Naruto, sensing that the female Espada had moved to yet another location, Shunpoed towards the direction of her trailing spiritual pressure as he readied himself for his toughest fight yet...

Next Time - The Power of a Tailed Beast: Kurama vs. Ulquiorra

A.N # 2: Before anyone says anything (as I'm sure some of you will) there will be no pairing as I've said earlier; I know that the Soifon/Naruto pairing is a popular concept in many of the other fan-made Naruto/Bleach crossovers but her presence in this story is for practical purposes only, not romantic ones.

**A/N # 3:** Even though this won't begin until partway into Part 2 of the story I want to make sure you readers are willing to go aboard with this idea. I have an idea that I would like to try that I thought of just a few days prior. The idea is to add, during certain scenes in this story, links to certain Youtube videos that play the themes from the original soundtracks(OSTs) of Naruto and Naruto Shippuden so that you readers can listen to them while reading those scenes. How did I come up with this idea? I have a habit of playing music (particularly if I think a song/theme fits perfectly with a scene in said story) when I read any story, since I tend to enjoy a story better when I am able to visualize a scene and a good theme always helps me do so. Do you like this idea? Do you think it's a bad concept? Give me your opinions on this when you're writing your reviews or, preferably, via a pm.


	11. 9: The Power of the Tailed Beasts

**Chapter 9 – The Power of the Tailed Beasts: Kurama vs. Ulquiorra**

Please keep sending favs, follows and especially reviews; it makes me real sad to see that so few of you are willing to comment on this story. :'(

Disclaimer: Still applies.

[Karakura Town Outskirts, Human Realm]

Recap: 

Kurama stood before the 4th Espada.

"Why don't we take this fight elsewhere, Ulquiorra?" Kurama asked the Espada, having heard the first converstion between the Arrancar and Naruto a copule of weeks earlier; Ulquiorra, without saying anything, simply used his Sonido to head to an area farther away from the town. 

_Current Time…._

Kurama was speeding off to the area where Ulquiorra was waiting for him; with his natural speed surpassing that of most Shunpo Masters it didn't take him long to reach his opponent's location, a small forest clearing several miles away from town.

"_Interesting..._" Kurama thought to himself before he spoke to the 4th Espada.

"So tell me Ulquiorra... why did you agree to my request so easily?" Kurama asked as had expected his opponent to use the vicinity of the town as a psychological shield against him.

"Because if I had stayed too close to the town I would not be able to fight you with my full power, which it appears that I'll need to use if I hope to defeat you, shinobi," Ulquiorra said to his opponent, knowing that Aizen wanted to use the town to create the Oken. Although the Espada was right in proceeding with caution against his opponent he was totally unaware of what he was truly dealing with, though Kurama decided to change that.

"Heh, you Arrancars are totally clueless if you don't even know what I truly am; that goes for your little puppetmaster Aizen as well," Kurama chided getting a raised eyebrow from his opponent.

"What are you saying?" Ulquiorra asked as he unsheathed his zanpakuto.

Kurama simply smiled as he unsheathed his sword and stuck it to the ground; unlike Naruto's Kenja, Kurama's new blade is not zanpakuto but it is, however, able to be used against those who do wield them and it can still purify a hollow or perform the Konso thanks to certain things that Kisuke had done to this blade.

"I'm not a shinobi; I'm not even human. I was just given a human form," Kurama explained; he could sense that the Espada was rather shocked by this revelation, even if his facial expression didn't show it.

"What are you then, if you're not human?" Ulquiorra asked. Kurama's smile didn't leave his face as he pointed his right thumb at his chest.

"My name is Kurama and I am a Tailed Beast; you may know me as the Nine-Tailed Fox," Kurama declared; he smirked when he saw Ulquiorra's eyes widen in shock.

"If you're a Tailed Beast then that would mean that the Shinobi is-" Ulquiorra said before Kurama interrupted him.

"My Jinchuriki, and a very strong one at that," Kurama said as Ulquiorra prepared to release his zanpakuto.

"Imprison, Murciélago," Ulquiorra said as a burst of black spiritual pressure with a green outline began to burst from and fall around Ulquiorra as green rain. Ulquiorra suddenly became bat-like in appearance; he now had large black bat wings on his back, his hair became longer and wilder, and the remains of his Hollow mask were now centered atop his head and with two large horns extending outward to the sides towards the front of the mask. The lines on his face became black, broad and more triangular while his fingernails lengthened; his Arrancar attire also became more form fitting and closed at the top while it was now more like a robe towards the bottom.

Despite the more menacing appearance and apparent increase in power, however, Kurama was not impressed.

"Is this it? Is that all the strength you can muster? Ulquiorra, you disappoint me; I don't even need one tail to defeat you if this is all you have. I only need to go this far," Kurama said.

Before Ulquiorra could question this Kurama rolled back the left sleeve of his shirt, revealing a seal that consists of the Kanji for Yin Release surrounded by a trigrams seal of sorts. Kurama built up some chakra in the palm of his hands and placed that hand on the seal, causing the seal to disappear. When that seal vanished Ulquiorra noted, in shock, that the Tailed Beast's power instantly doubled. The Espada then looked on shock as Kurama began to release his chakra which affected the Tailed Beast's body. His eyes became blood-red, with his pupils becoming slitted; his hair also changed to the same color while it grew to waist-length. His canine teeth became longer, turning into fangs, while his finger nails did same, turning into claws (A/N: Think of the Initial Jinchuriki Form and you'll know what type of form form he just used).

Kurama's chakra emanated all around him as he looked at Ulquiorra, who tried to unleash some sort of attack.

"Luz de la Lun-" Ulquiorra said as he tried to create some sort of green enegy javelin; unfortunately for the Espada Kurama moved right of him before he could lift his new weapon.

"Too slow," Kurama said as he grabbed Ulquiorra by the throat and pushed the Espada to the ground; the resulting collision between Ulquiorra and the ground left a giant crater several dozen yards wide, a scene of devastation that was only matched by the injuries that the Espada had just suffered.

"Are you done yet, Espada?" Kurama asked his opponent as he backed up; as Ulquiorra got up he held his injured left arm, his high-speed regeneration nullified by the foreign nature of Kurama's Chakra.

"I know you're holding back, Cifer; if you don't use you're full power against me you will die here," the Tailed Beast said as he keep attacking the Espada, who could barely dodge the Tailed Beast.

Ulquiorra realized that his opponent was right; the full power that Kurama refered to was, however, that the Espada did not want to use until he revealed it to Aizen. In the end, however, Ulquiorra decided that there was no way around it anymore.

"Very well then; if I cannot defeat you with this level, allow me to show you-" Ulquiorra said until both he and the Tailed Beast felt a sudden surge of spiritual pressure emante near Karakura Town.

"_That's not an Arrancar; whatever this thng is, however, it needs to be dealt with now,_" Kurama thought to himself; while this new spiritual pressure was undoubtebly some sort of hollow it was too different from the Arrancars that Kurama had encountered so far to be one of them. It's greater power, however, was enough to concern the Tailed Beast.

Kurama turned to his opponent.

"You know I've gotten tired of fighting you so I'll finish this battle quickly," he said as he proceeded to release more of his chakra; this chakra soon enveloped Kurama, turning into a fiery red Chakra shroud that loosely resemled his true form... with one tail materialized (A/N: Think of Naruto's one-tailed form if it was fiery instead of acidic and you'll have an idea of how this form looks).

"_What is this power?_" Ulquiorra thought to himself as considered his options .

"Here I come," Kurama said; before Ulquiorra could respond he was struck by a claw-like extension of Kurama's shroud; knocked back by the attack Ulquiorra immediately regained his footing and created a new energy javelin.

"Die," the Espada said calmly as he threw his projectile at the Tailed beast; the attack hit Kurama cleanly, enveloping him in a massive explosion. Believing his battle had ended Ulquiorra resealed his zanpakuto and prepared to go to Harribel's aid in her battle, a presumptive move on his part.

"Is that all you got, Ulquiorra?" the voice of Kurama asked, causing the Espada's eyes to widen.

Ulquiorra turned his head and was shocked to see Kurama, still enveloped in his red shroud, on his fours... completely unscathed.

"How did you-?" Ulquiorra asked before Kurama interrupted him.

"That attack was nothing more than an annoying bug bite compared to what I'm about to use on you," Kurama explained before he took a unnaturally big breath.

When Kurama began bloating he proceeded to let out a massive roar; having used his chakra to turn said roar into a massive shockwave Kurama intended to end this fight with this attack. The shockwave was massive, being as wide as a 100 yards and a matching height it easily enveloped Ulquiorra and large part of the forest behind him up to two miles. The attack leveled the trees like tooth picks, tossed around very large boulders like rag dolls for miles and left a trench in the ground 12 yards deep and 20 yards wide. Ulquiorra, who was caught in the middle of the blast, fared little better than the forest, having received several lacerations across his body; Ulquiorra's left leg was so badly mauled that he could barely stand on it.

Kurama came before the limping Espada.

"It's over, Ulquiorra; if you leave now I'll let you live. If you keep fighting, however, I'll have no choice but to kill you," Kurama declared; Ulquiorra stared back at him, still unwilling to fall back. While the Espada knew that he was outmatched by his opponent he had not received any orders to fall back and, unless that changed, he was compelled to continue this battle.

At this point in the battle, however, a Garganta suddenly opened behind Ulquiorra, suprising both him and Kurama; Kurama was further taken aback when a mysterious figure suddenly emerged from the portal. It was a man with black skin, purple hair and some sort of visor on his eyes, which appeared to be featureless and gave the impression that he was blind; he wore a sleeveless Arrancar jacket but, with no mask remnant on him and with the nature of his spiritual pressure, he was clearly no Arrancar.

"Ulquiorra, the mission is complete; have the other Espada fall back. Lord Aizen wants the analysis of the ninja's power as soon as possible," the man said, to which Ulquiorra nodded.

Kurama was confused; because of the nature of the altered seal Kurama could see, within his mind, what was happening to Naruto and, to be perfectly blunt, the blond-haired ninja was holding off his opponent and was not in danger of being captured anytime soon. If the Arrancars had gone to great lengths to lure out Naruto but were ending their "mission" without their target secured, then they clearly had a different goal in mind; if that was the case, then what was it?

Kurama looked intently at this mysterious man.

"What are your intentions?" Kurama asked as he prepared himself in case the man attacked him. The man turned his attention to Kurama as Ulquiorra left to go somewhere without saying anything else.

"That is none of your concern; you will find out soon enough, though," the man said as he reentered the Garganta; as the portal closed behind the figure Kurama, deciding not to pursue the man into an unknown territory, dissipated his transformation, reverting to his normal human form. As he retreived, and sheathed, his sword Kurama sensed the ominous spiritual pressure from earlier; to Kurama's shock, however, he could sense that this power had a familiar nature to it.

"_This is not good at all; I need to find Naruto, help him end his fight, and deal with whoever or whatever this being is before something terrible happens,_" Kurama thought to himself as he went to aid his knucklehead Jinchuriki...

Next Time - The Meaning of Sacrifice: Naruto vs. Harribel, Part 1

A/N # 1: How Kurama regained his Yin Chakra will be revealed later on in this story so don't ask me right now (also the case for Ulquiorra's reaction to finding out what Kurama is).

A/N # 2: If apologize if this chapter is shorter than what you had hoped (still getting used to writing fight scenes of any type); because the main battles in the climax of Part 1 are Naruto vs. Harribel and Ichigo vs. Grimmjow, however, I wanted to put more emphasis on them.


	12. 10: The Meaning of Sacrifice

**Chapter 10 - The Meaning of Sacrifice: Naruto vs. Harribel, Part 1**

A/N # 1: I have yet another new poll on my profile page; unlike the other polls, however, I really need the results of this poll within a few weeks so please vote.

A/N # 2: I finally reached 50 reviews; I even managed to get them before Chapter 10. Thank you all for your support. (I finish writing this note before running off to have a fiesta to celebrate this milestone) :)-

A/N # 3: Since many readers are still asking me about this I will it say it yet again;**_ I WILL_ **_**NOT HAVE ANY PAIRINGS IN THIS STORY, NO**** EXCEPTIONS!**_ I know that the concept is popular on this site but I personally don't like the idea (Shonen Mangas and Romance are two genres that shouldn't mix) and before any of you point out the fact that there are indications of a pairing(s) in my other story I will point out, right now, that those pairings were the products of the _**PREVIOUS AUTHOR **_and even though I promised that nothing in that story will change plot-wise (and still won't) those pairings will barely be mentioned in my chapters. So please, I am asking you readers nicely, stop with the requests for pairings.

Please keep sending faves, follows, and especially reviews.

Disclaimer: Still Applies

[Somewhere Outside of Karakura Town, Human Realm]

_Meanwhile…._

Recap:

Naruto, sensing that the female Espada had moved to yet another location, Shunpoed towards the direction of her trailing spiritual pressure as he readied himself for a tough fight...

He didn't have to go as far as Kurama did with Ulquiorrra in order to find his opponent as she had traveled only half of the distance that Ulquiorra had; she had stopped in another forest clearing which had a small stream that flowed through its center.

When Naruto arrived he saw that the women had already unsheathed her blade, which Naruto assumed was her zanpakuto. The sword appeared to be a very wide and short blade, which would've been unassumning except for the fact that the middle of the blade was completely hollow; the sword, in other words, consisted of nothing more than the edges of its blade. The women was already in what Naruto thought was a fighting stance and was glaring at him.

"Tell me; what is your name, boy?" she asked.

"You're trying to capture me and you don't even know my name?" Naruto asked as reached into one of his ninja tool pouches, which he, like his headband and clothing, had also kept with him the whole time he was in Karakura Town, as he also had Kenja eject from the hidden mechanism. He pulled out a knife; it was not the usual kunai knife, however, that he pulled out. Instead Naruto pulled out what could best be descibed as a cross between a kunai and a trench knife that he wielded in his left hand; it was one Shikamaru's chakra blades, which he had lent to Naruto shortly before he was killed in his battle with Tobi.

As Harribel raised an eyebrow at the unusual blades Naruto decided answer her question.

"I am Naruto Uzumaki. And you are?," he declared as he channeled some of his wind chakra in the chakra blade; he decided not to use his zanpakuto's shikai just yet.

"I am Tier Harribel, the Third Espada," the women said as she as the hollow portion of her blade was filled with a yellow-colored spiritual pressure.

The two opponents then charged at each other; Harribel made the first move as she thrusted her sword at Naruto's heart. Naruto sidestepped the attack moving to Harribel's right; the Arrancar managed to quickly recover the parry and swung her blade at Naruto, who proceeded to block it with his chakra blade. Harribel was suprised by the sharpness and strength of the wind-enhanced knife; the female Espada had to apply even more of her spiritual pressure to her blade just so that she could hold her ground.

"Take this!" Naruto yelled as he attempted to stab Harribel in the chest with his zanpakuto, which caught the Espada even further by surprise. Harribel was barely able to evade that attack being using her Sonido to create some distance between herself and her opponent.

Harribel tried to prepare another beam of yellow spiritual pressure until she saw, to her horror, that Naruto had already flash stepped in front of the Arrancar; she barely had time to block the ninja's two blades before she was pushed back several feet. After a series a further attacks, parries, and counter-attacks, all of which occured at speeds that even someone with the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan could never hope to read, both blondes backed up several yards from each other; Harribel had been badly injured, with several moderate lacerations across her arms, while Naruto was simply trying to keep an eye on his opponent, as he figure that Harribel, being the Third Espada, was holding back against him.

Harribel was taken aback by the speed and ferocity of Naruto's attacks; most Soul Reapers and Arrancars would've stopped their attacks for a very short respite if their opponent did the same. Naruto, on the other hand, was relentless as he kept attacking Harribel again and again, having trained to fight differently; he only stopped, briefly of course, after twenty minutes passed since their fight began. What really surprised Harribel, however, was the sheer volume of resolve reflected in Naruto's blade; her opponent's conviction was so strong that she could almost feel it ten yards away.

As Harribel eyed Naruto, wondering where his drive even comes from, he decided to question her.

"Why did you stop fighting me all of a sudden?" he asked as the Espada narrowed her eyes at him.

"I was just curious; where does this resolve I sense from within you come from?" Harribel asked as Naruto simply tensed up as if he was expecting the Arrancar to attack if he answered.

"I don't know why you give a damn about my resolve; if you need to know why, however, it's because I can't afford to give into despair, especially now. I have people back home whom I've made promises to, people who believed in me; if they were willing to believe in me then I have to believe in myself. And it's because of that... that I know... that I won't lose to you or whoever this Aizen-guy sends after me!" Naruto explained as the thoughts of his friends back in his own world went through his mind. Harribel scoffed at this.

"You speak as though you're willing to sacrifice everything for those people, even your own life," Harribel said as Naruto glared at her.

"And what do you know about sacrifice?" Naruto asked.

"I know more than you ever could, Naruto Uzumaki; sacrifice is, after all, the aspect of death that I symbolize," Harribel explained; when Naruto appeared to be confused by this the Espada proceeded to explain how each of the Espada represented an aspect of death.

Naruto his blood boil with each word his opponent said; Harribel, unaware of the circumstances of Naruto's death, then dropped the ball, so to speak.

"The existence of the Espada is built upon the noble sacrifices of its members; if I were to lose here the sacrifices made in this battle would have all been for nothing. I hold within me the resolve of those who were, and still are, willing to sacrifice their lives. That is something you will never be able to comprehend," Harribel declared as she prepared to continue the fight; it was then that she noticed that Naruto had put his head down.

Harribel then sensed something that she hadn't felt within her opponent; it was a sense of rage, the likes of which she has never felt, that flared up so violently that it appeared to be covering him in flames, right down to his shihakusho. After a few moments, however, Harribel realized that the flames she was seeing were actually _real_ and, curiously, yellow in color; the Espada also realized that her oppponent's hair now had two horn-like extensions at the front (A/N: For those who don't recognize it Naruto just used the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode). As Harribel's eyes widened in terror at the increase in Naruto's power as he placed the Chakra Blade back in his pouch. Naruto then looked at Harribel eyes had changed to orange, as far as colors were concerned, before he spoke.

"You talk as though you know everything about the meaning of sacrifice... BUT YOU DON'T KNOW A DAMN THING ABOUT IT, HARRIBEL!" he roared as held his left hand into the air. Naruto then had two Chakra arms form as he created a Rasenshuriken; he would've only needed one chakra arm if it wasn't for the fact that he still held Kenja in his right hand.

"_Oh no..._" Harribel thought as she had another beam of spiritual pressure build up in her hollowed-out blade.

"Ola Azul!" Harribel said as she launched her attack... just as Naruto finished creating his jutsu.

"True Wind-Style: Rasenshuriken!" Naruto roared as he threw the wind release jutsu.

The two attacks collided and the Rasenshuriken, to Harribel's horror, cut right through her attack like it was paper; she didn't realize that Naruto had learned to use spiritual pressure to enhance the power of his jutsus and, in fact, could use his chakra to do the same thing with his Soul Reaper abilities.

The Rasenshuriken hit the ground right next to Harribel and exploded; despite the size of the attack, which was large enough to level a third of Karakura Town had it been caught in the blast, Harribel was able to dodge the attack though not without injury as she now had several injuries across her body. Naruto then appeared before the Espada; he had stop his use of the Kurama's chakra but was still wielding his zanpakuto. Harribel straightened herself as Naruto spoke.

"You want to know how I died, Harribel? I gave my own life to stop a man who was threathening my friends... my home... my world... because they all mean more to me than my own life and I'm still willing to protect all of them, no matter what happens to me and regardless of what it takes t keep them safe. So the next time try to see if you have anything, anyone, you're willing to fight and die for; then you can look me in the eye and talk to me about the meaning fo the word 'sacrifice'," Naruto explained as held Kenja in front of him in a backhanded grip.

"Now bring out your full power so we can finish this fight already, Harribel!" Naruto roared; Harribel, having decided to honor her opponent's challange, stretched her right hand in front of her while having the blade of her zanpakuto pointed downward.

"Destoy, Tiburon," Harribel said; the Espada was then enveloped by a heart-shaped surge of water that closed around her, forming a cocoon-like cyclone. Naruto proceeded to release his blade.

"Ride the wind, Kenja," Naruto said as the explosion of spiritual pressure, with the gusts of wind that accompanied it, that came with the release of his zanpakuto soon enveloped him...

Next Time - Water and Wind Collide: Naruto vs. Harribel, Part 2

A/N # 4: I apologize for the delay; I'm still getting overwhelmed with papers from my classes. Do not fear, however, as the semester will soon be over in a couple of weeks, giving me more free time to write my stories.


	13. 11: Water and Wind Collide

**Chapter 11 – Water and Wind Collide: Naruto vs. Harribel, Part 2**

A/N: After this chapter has been posted I'll begin working on a new story which will be published soon; this means that both this story and my adopted story (Kitsune of Las Noches) will take a little longer to update from now on.

Please keep sending more Faves, Follows, and especially Reviews.

Disclaimer: Still applies.

Recap:

Harribel, having decided to honor her opponent's challange, stretched her right hand in front of her while having the blade of her zanpakuto pointed downward.

"Destoy, Tiburon," Harribel said; the Espada was then enveloped by a heart-shaped surge of water that closed around her, forming a cocoon-like cyclone. Naruto proceeded to release his blade.

"Ride the wind, Kenja," Naruto said as the explosion of spiritual pressure, with the gusts of wind that accompanied it, that came with the release of his zanpakuto soon enveloped him.

[Somewhere Outside of Karakura Town, Human Realm]

_Current Time…._

Naruto emerged from his shikai's explosion, the familiar Bō staff in hand, and turned to face his opponent as she sliced herself out of the water cocoon. As Naruto got a clear view of Harribel his perverted nature nearly emerged at the sight.

All of Harribel's clothes were gone; Harribel had lost her three braids which made her blonde hair messier, though it had already been messy to begin with, and had two blue lightning bolt markings on both sides of her face, which was now visible. A collar with extensions covered her nipples and also came with the addition of spaulders on her shoulders and two ribbon-like protrusions on her back that bore a resemblance to shark fins while a thin, spine-like structure had formed on her stomach and spanned from her waist to the underside of her breasts. Harribel now wore a mini-skirt that consisted of bones that appeared to surround some sort of dark undergarment as well as a pair of knee-length boots and elbow-length gloves. Her sword had also undergone a drastic change as well; it now looked like an elongated shark tooth that had gill-like markings on both sides of the blade and a very unusual hilt that completely covered her right hand with a hand guard that looked as if it was just the bottom part of the blade.

Naruto almost allowed his perverted nature to surface at the sight of Harribel's revealing appearance; the only thing that prevented an outburst was the fact that Kenja reminded Naruto that the Arrancar was still his opponent and was still after him. Naruto turned his attention to the Arrancar.

"Are you ready, Naruto Uzumaki?" Harribel asked.

"Let's finish this!" Naruto roared as he began to channel strong gusts of wind through his staff while water began to pour out of the the gill markings of Harribel's blade.

It didn't take long for either combatant to build up a large attack with their respective elements; there was one difference between the attacks, however, besides the elements used. The attack Harribel was about to use was a specific technique whereas Naruto was simply building up a large windstrom, similar to the one he used on Ichigo when he had first activated his zanpakuto's shikai; that would do little to help Harribel, however, as she prepared to unleash her attack.

"Cascada," Harribel said as she unleashed a rushing surge of high pressure water at Naruto, who unleashed the windstorm that he had created.

The two attacks soon impacted each other and attempted to overpower the other attack; the spiraling surge of water that Harribel had launched, however, was unable to overcome Naruto's windstorm, which as more like a wall of wind than a simple gust. The unrelenting barrage of water and wind which was occuring a mile and a half above the ground and, as a result, created a large torrential downpour that would of either blown a person to bits or drown them if anyone had been unfortunate enough to find themselves in the area. Thankfully the two blondes were the only ones around for several miles. The only reason that Harribel's Cascada was not blown away by the wind attack was because Naruto had intentionally made his attack weak enough so that she would stand in place. Harribel didn't realize this, however, until it was too late.

"Idai Bōfū," Naruto yelled; Harribel turned around and, to her horror, saw that Naruto had appeared out of nowhere and had snuck up from behind to deliver a sneak attack.

Harribel barely managed to dodge the incoming attacks, though she assumed that it was a one attack and would not have known otherwise since she dodged it; after landing on the ground Harribel prepared to use another Cascada until, to her further shock, she saw that eight wooden poles, similar to Naruto's shikai, appeared to come out of the earth itself and surrounded the Espada in a circular pattern. Harribel was then horrified to see that, after an orange light emanated from said poles each of the poles unleashed two sets of very strong and long chains began to wrap around her; despite using all her strength the Espada was unable to break free of these new bonds. She saw that her opponent now stood before had one knee on the ground while he held his staff as if he slammed it to the ground.

"Sosen no Fūin (Roughlty translates to 'Seal of the Ancestor')," Naruto said before a light matching that light of the poles emanated from the zanpakuto. at this point the wood from the poles began to somehow stretch and merged witht he wood from the other poles, creating a wooden box of sorts.

That would've been the end of the battle for Harribel; thankfully for Harribel Naruto's attention was suddenly directed at something else, something that was emiting a very ominous spiritual pressure.

"_That spiritual pressure... does this mean that... shit, this is bad,_" Naruto though to himself as he pondered his next move.

This lapse allowed Harribel to break though the incomplete seal; this forced Naruto to turn his attention back to the Arrancar and caused Kenja to become rather annoyed at her wielder.

"_Didn't I tell that you had to keep absolute focus on making until it was completed? Otherwise your opponent will break out easily,_" Kenja said; the Sosen no Fūin, while unbreakable when completed, had to be completed in order for it to actually be effective and Naruto, in order to complete said seal, had to focus all his attention on performing, hence the reason this technique works best in a one-on-one fight.

Naruto sighed at Kenja's comment before making a "no shit, Sherlock?" type of expression.

"_I already know that; don't tell that this spiritual pressure isn't making you nervous?_" Naruto roared in his mind as he easily dodged a slash from Harribel; Naruto's zanpakuto, though far more level-headed than he was, also had a mischievous side that annoyed even a prankster like him.

"_I know what you're implying and, yes , it does have me concerned as well; we have to focus on the opponent in front of us before we can-_" Kenja explained before that same spiritual pressure emanated yet again; this time, however, it was even darker and far more powerful than last time.

This fact wasn't lost on either blade or wielder, though the idea Naruto had in mind to deal with both Harribel and this new threat had Kenja concerned.

"_Are you sure you want to do that, Naruto? His spiritual pressure is far beyond everyone else you've faced, and considering who he is, you won't be able deal with that foe alo-_" Kenja said, despite the fact that she knew that Naruto's mind was already set, before he interrupted her.

"_I looks like I won't have to, Kenja,_" Naruto said.

Harribel, meanwhile, had backed up several yards when she sensed a nearby presence that was closing in on this fight; Naruto had already sensed this person and was actually referring to him in his conversation with his "blade". That person was none other than Kurama, who had went to find Naruto after his battle with Ulquiorra had been interrupted by Tosen.

Kurama looked at Harribel for a few moments before he turned his attention to his Jinchuriki when he realized that the former Vasto-Lorde had no intention of making a move against him or Naruto yet.

"Are you alright, Naruto?" Kurama asked; he waited until Naruto nodded in reply before he said anything else.

"I'm sure you sensed that dark spiritual pressure near Karakura Town..." he said as if it were a question.

"Yeah, I did; do you think that his-" Naruto was about to ask before Kurama responded in the affirmative.

"If something is not done now... I fear Ichigo will lose himself. I'm afraid you'll have to have Kenja take her on if we're to have any chance of stopping him," the Tailed Beast replied.

Naruto, Kurama, and Kenja, who overheard everything that went on around her master, had learned from Kisuke and Yoruichi about Ichigo's Inner Hollow and the current danger it currently posed; they assumed that this spiritual pressure was that Inner Hollow taking over Ichigo's body based on how the nature of the spiritual pressure felt similar to the chakra of a Jinchuriki when he/she lost control of their Tailed Beast.

Naruto nodded in reply to his friend's request as Harribel, who was listening to their conversation from a distance, narrowed her eyes at her foes upon hearing Kurama's suggestion.

"What are you talking about?" the Arrancar asked; Naruto turned to face her as he raised his staff in front of him, holding it with one hand in a horizontal position.

"I don't know if Ichigo and the other Soul Reapers are able to do this to the extent that I'm able to, but I think they would refer to this as the ma... ma... ma... Kami, I can't remember how to say it," Naruto said in embarrassment; Naruto got steamed when he noticed that Kurama tried to suppress a snicker, and doing it rather poorly, while Kenja was outright laughing at him, and doing it hard enough that she fell to the snow covered floor of the ninja's spiritual state, and his predicament.

"I believe you meant to say 'the materializtion of my zanpakuto'," Kurama said once he suppressed the snicker that tried to surface# Naruto sighed at this, making a note to both remember the term and to get payback on both of his inner residents before he refocused his attention to Harribel, who was unamused by her opponent's stupidity.

"What Kurama just said," Naruto stated before he channeled his spiritual energy into his staff.

After a minute or so the zanpakuto vanished in a brilliant flash of orange-colored light; Harribel, not surprisingly, was surprised at this development.

"What in Ka-" she said before she noticed something looming above her head, something with sprirtual pressure identical to Naruto's in both nature and amount.

The Espada looked up in and was shocked to see a young, white-haired, winged female in a very brightly colored attire standing before her; what really shocked Harribel, though, was that this person was now wielding the same staff that Naruto was just wielding.

While Harribel eyed Kenja very closely the zanpakuto descended gently yo the ground; when her feet touched the ground her wings, which were eagle-like in form, dissipated. This was something that Kenja did whenever she was on the ground so that the wings do not hinder her when moving on foot; Kenja could, of course, rematerialize those wings instantaneously whenever she wanted to.

As Kenja prepared to face Harribel, Naruto decided to speak with her before he and Kurama left.

"Be careful," Naruto warned Kenja, to which she nodded.

"Go now, Naruto, before it's too late," she said. Naruto then went to Kurama's side before they went towards the direction that "Ichigo's" spiritual pressure was emanating from.

The zanpakuto now faced Harribel as said opponent the Arrancar prepared to face yet another tough opponent. It hadn't taken the very perceptive Harribel more than a few minutes to figure out what this new opponent was since the staff she wielded, and her converstion with both Uzumaki and the man called Kurama, gave her identity away.

"So you're the spirit of that boy's zanpakuto. I wonder if you're as strong as your wielder," Harribel said as Kenja's got into her fighting stance, which was much more refined than Naruto's.

"Why don't come at me and find out, fish woman," Kenja said in a clearly mocking tone (A/N: For those who don't understand the joke Tiburon, the name of Harribel's zanpakuto, is the spanish word for 'shark'); while Harribel was clearly insulted by Kenja's nickname for her the Arrancar refused to let it show.

"Very well then; if you're so eager to face than behold my power. With the bite of a shark you shall sink be-" Harribel said before she and Kenja sensed the spiritual pressure of someone they did not recognize.

Kenja, despite not knowing who this newcomer was, could tell from their spiritual pressure that this person, whoever they might be, was not an Arrancar; Kenja was proven right when the person in question appeared. Both Kenja and Harribel were rather surprised at the sight of the person before them: a relatively petite woman... in a Gotei 13 captain's uniform.

The young woman looked around and sighed in frustration, as if she was expecting something, or someone, to be there. She turned her attention to Kenja, a scowl etched onto her face.

"Who or what the hell are you?" she said as if she was issuing Kenja an order; the zanpakuto suddenly had one thought in mind.

"_I can already tell that s__he's __going to be pain in the ass to deal with,_" Kenja thought to herself...

Next Time - The Sage, the Bee, and the Shark


	14. 12: The Sage, The Bee, and The Shark

**Chapter 12 – The Sage, the Bee, and the Shark**

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Disclaimer: Still applies.

[Somewhere Outside of Karakura Town, Human Realm]

_Current Time…._

Soifon began to glare at Kenja when she failed to answer though the zanpakuto was actually delaying her answer; this was because she tended to ignore strangers who were rude to either her, Naruto, or Kurama. Kenja was, for the most part, a calm, level-headed, and cheerful soul with a knack for mischief that was only surpassed by her master; when she felt that the situation called for it, however, Kenja's personality, as she told Naruto during his training, would change to whatever she needed it to be and in situations like the one she found herself in now she tended to be much more stern and serious, much to Soifon's displeasure.

"I asked you a question; are going to have to make me force an answer out of you?" the head of the Stealth Force asked with a great deal of frustration in her voice. Kenja sighed at this.

"If you were willing to give a little common courtesy I would be much more willing to answer your question, Soul Reaper," Kenja replied.

Soifon was even more annoyed with Kenja but, realizing that she was not her enemy, the Captain decided to swallow enough of her pride to oblige the spirit.

"Fine; who or what the hell are you, please?" Soifon asked.

"Now was that so difficult? As for your question, my name is Kenja... and I am a zanpakuto," Kenja replied; after a failing to register the Kenja's words for a minute or so the Captain of the 2nd Division let her mouth gape open in surprise.

"I know that you have a lot more questions Reaper but now is not the time to answer them," Kenja said as she directed Soifon's attention to Harribel who had managed to observe everything her two opponent's were saying and didn't even attempt to seize the opportunity to attack them. After a few more minutes of gaping Soifon finally snapped out of her shock and nodded in reply.

"Very well, then, but you will answer my questions when this is over," Soifon said as she also turned to face the Arrancar before her.

Harribel responded by turning her gaze to the Soul Reaper before her.

"And who are you?" the Espada asked Soifon; after a brief introduction on the part of both combatants they readied themselves for this 2-vs.-1 battle.

Kenja, who was also ready for a fight, made the first move as she flash stepped towards Harribel who was barely able to avoid the incoming downward strike. As Harribel moved a few yards back she saw that Soifon had appeared behind her and was about to strike the Arrancar with her right middle finger; just before Soifon could land a blow, however, Harribel used her Sonido to escape the Captain's blow by a few millimeters. Harribel then charged at the two females before she had her blade above their heads. The former Vasto-Lordes attempted to slash at Soifon only to find that she had flash stepped out of way of her attack; Harribel had to rely on her instincts to dodge the Captain's next attack which she noted to be the same type of strike as the last time. Harribel realized that something was up with that strike and, after a series of further attacks, parries, and counterattacks from both Kenja and Soifon, all of which had gotten to within millimeters from striking Harribel, she finally managed to temporarily get herself out of the hornet's nest, so to speak.

Harribel moved at least 20 yards back just in case her opponents tried to double-team her yet again at any moment. As Harribel eyed her opponents she finally got a good look at the finger Soifon tried to hit her with; she was surprised to see that the finger was encased in a stinger-like blade that was twice as long as the finger it encased. The blade had a small chain that linked it to a black and gold gauntlet that now enveloped her right hand. Harribel realized that the gauntlet, which she hadn't noticed as she didn't get a good enough look at it earlier, was actually the release of the Captain's zanpakuto and that the attack just now had to be related to whatever its ability is.

"_I can't let her attacks land or I'll probably be finished,_" Harribel thought to herself.

Harribel realized that despite the tensions between her two opponents, as well as the fact that they don't know each other at all, they managed to fight seamlessly as a team; the Arrancar realized that she had to end this battle soon as her zanpakuto began to generate a large amount of water.

"Cascada," she said as she launched another massive surge of water.

Before the attack could reach either of Harribel's opponents they both used their shunpo to easily dodge the attack.

"You do realize that one of us has already seen that attack, right? If you have any other tricks up you're sleeve I would suggest that you use them now. If you don't... you'll die here," Kenja warned the Arrancar as she prepared to use the Idai Bōfū.

At this point a massive amount of spiritual pressure from what appeared to be two different beings began to emanate from somewhere closer to Karakura Town; Kenja recognized who the two beings were and understood what that meant. Soifon, on the other hand, was not sure what was going on, except for the fact that the situation was now very serious wherever these spiritual pressures were coming from; Soifon took note of Kenja's reaction and decided to ask her about this new problem.

"Who are those two? Their spiritual pressure is off the scale; I'm amazed that I'm able to sense their power at all," Soifon said; Soifon, like powerful Soul Reapers, knew that there is a point were one's spiritual pressure becomes so powerful that only those on a similar level can feel it and these two beings were reaching that point.

"That's Naruto and Ichigo, or at least the Inner Hollow within Ichigo; my master went to stop that Hollow before Ichigo loses himself, forever," Kenja explained.

That explaination answered a lot more than the question that Soifon had asked. Not only did Soifon now know who those two were but she now knew that the zanpakuto, if that's what this being truly was, belonged to the person that Soifon was looking for. Though Soifon decided to keep her grudge hidden for the time being Kenja had already guessed that the Soul Reaper Captain had, for whatever reason, been looking for her master. Both Soifon and Kenja, unaware of how similar their thoughts were at the moment, decided to keep an eye on the other for the time being.

Kenja snapped out of her line of thought first before she spoke.

"In any case, we need to deal with the opponent standing before us first before we can even think of heading towards the other battle," Kenja said as she finished creating her Idai; her converation with Soifon having forced her to cancel out the previous one.

"Right..." Soifon said as she turned to face Harribel as well.

Just as it appeared that the battle was about to resume the three females suddenly sensed the spiritual pressure of someone that was heading this way; after a couple of minutes that person appeared beside Harribel. It was Ulquiorra, who, after withdrawing from his fight as per Aizen's orders, had already told Coyote and Lilynette to fall back and had to do the same with Grimmjow after this. Harribel was surprised to see that the Espada just a rank under her had been beaten like a drum thanks to Kurama, with the bruises and lacerations being far worse than her injuries. Even Ulquiorra's high-speed regeneration, which he had kept unlike his fellow Arrancars, was having a hard time healing him as Kurama's chakra was still a little acidic to any person other than Naruto, though this only became an issue when Kurama himself fought someone... like he did now.

"Harribel, we've received orders to fall back to Las Noches from Lord Aizen. You should be prepared to present the analysis to Lord Aizen when I return," Ulquiorra said.

Harribel, though of a higher rank than Cifer, nodded her head in confirmation since she knew that Ulquiorra was acting on their leader's orders since since she knew he was truly loyal to Aizen like she was.

"What of Grimmjow, Yammy, Coyote, and Lilynette?" Harribel asked as she resealed her zanpakuto, reverting back to the form she was in before she release her blade.

Harribel had asked this out of curiosity; while Starrk and Lilynette were unlikely to argue against those orders Grimmjow would undoubtedly be a different matter while Yammy, thanks to the power of Naruto's Rasengan, was still unconcious.

"Coyote and Lilynette have already retreated and Yammy was carried back to Las Noches by three other Arrancars. I'm going to relay these orders to Grimmjow right now," Ulquiorra said before Harribel opened a Garganta. Before she entered the portal, however, she turned to face both of her opponents.

"You two have won this battle; prepare yourselves, however, for we will meet again. That goes for the boy as well," Harribel declared as she entered the gateway to the world of the Hollows.

Soifon, determined to finish the two Arrancars, was about to use her flash step before Kenja stopped her.

"We don't have time to deal with any more opponents; they're already falling back so should just let them go for the time being and focus on the bigger problem near Karakura Town. The Arrancars can be dealt with another time, Soifon, so be a little patient," the zanpakuto reasoned. The Commander of the Stealth Force scowled at the spirit for a few moments before she said anything.

"You better be right about the seriousness of the threat; if you're not then I'll make that you end up in the Nest of Maggots," Soifon said, though she couldn't obviously go through with that threat; she was just in a bad mood as she had been all day long and, since her patience had already thinned out to the breaking point by that moment in time, the fact that she consented to Kenja's reasoning was nothing short of miraculous.

Both Kenja and Soifon then flash stepped towards the still-present spiritual pressures of both Naruto and "Ichigo" as the Garganta closed behind Harribel. Ulquiorra used his Sonido to head in the same direction as the two females since Grimmjow had targeted Ichigo from the beginning of the invasion. Ulquiorra assumed, naturally, that the 6th Espada was somewhere nearby; Ulquiorra was also curious as to what Grimmjow did to the piece of trash to have caused such a disturbance...

[Kurosaki Residence, Karakura Town]

_Shortly Before the Espada's Retreat Began..._

Kisuke and Yoruichi had arrived just a few moments after Naruto and Kurama had escaped from Urahara's shop to enlist the help of Isshin, Ichigo's father, in the fight that was going on in and around Karakura Town. Though Isshin was already going to head into the fray he agreed to contact Ryuken, who was an aquaintence of his and Uryu's father as well as a very powerful Quincy.

Isshin, Kisuke, and Yoruichi were initially surprised to find that Ryuken actually agreed to join the fight; the reluctant Quincy, who was also the director of the Karakura Hospital, almost never got involved in spiritual matters, with the training he gave his son to help him regain his Quincy powers being first time he had done so in years. The feelings of surprise on the part of the three Reapers dissipated, however, when Ryuken told them through the phone that he was only going to help them repel the Arrancars this one time and that he had only agreed to help them after one of the Arrancars blew up one of the rooms on the top floor of the hospital with a Cero; the attack had only destroyed that room and while no one was hurt in that incident Ryuken realized that, in this case, helping the dead would be in his best interest.

As the Soul Reapers waited for Ryuken's arrival Isshin decided to end the eerie that permeated the room since he had ended his call.

"So... I'm guessing that Aizen is on edge over this Naruto kid?" Isshin asked.

"It would appear so; I can't say I'm surprised, though, as I'm sure that the arrival of the Sage's reincarnate was not something that Aizen had taken into account. No one could have imagined that this would've happened so suddenly, after all," Yoruichi replied, to which Isshin sighed.

Isshin had met Naruto during the week before he began his Soul Reaper training; Isshin thought he was a good kid despite his flaws and had taken a liking to the young shinobi. it was also during that time that Naruto had discovered Isshin's little secret during an incident where the Kurosaki had helped Naruto fight off a Menos. Isshin made Naruto promise that he wouldn't tell Ichigo anything about what had happened that day, which Naruto agreed to do... under a few conditions, of course.

As Isshin got out of his train of thought he suddenly remebered something important.

"Kisuke, have they been inf-" Isshin was about to ask when an ominous, yet frighteningly familiar, spiritual pressure suddenly emanated from somewhere in town.

"Is that who I think it is, Kisuke?" Yoruichi asked, though she already knew the answer. Kisuke simply nodded in response.

"Then I guess it's a good thing that I've finally arrived," a male voice said.

The three Soul Reapers turned to where the source of the voice, which was the front door of the house, and saw that Ryuken was already inside since Isshin had left the door open.

After Kisuke took few more minutes to explain the entire situation to Ryuken the four people in the room decided to deal with the problem in town first, agreeing to locate Naruto and Kurama once that had been taken care of, before they headed towards the battle that was threatening to destory Karakura Town...

Next Time - The Fading Moon: Ichigo vs. Grimmjow

A/N: I apologize for the delay; though I don't like to give excuses for anything there are two reasons why I have taken soo long:

* * *

1. I have been preoccupied with my classes at FIU; 3 of my 4 professors, in the biggest display of irrational thought that I've witnessed as of now, decided to give the classes papers of 10 to 15 pages two weeks before the semester ended. I was barely able to submit these papers minutes before they were due as the papers were very difficult even for me.

* * *

2. When I had finally finished the aforementioned papers I decided to make yet another Naruto/Bleach crossover called "Naruto - Shinigami on the Prowl" and, as such, it took a bit more time to actually begin writing this chapter; this also means that the alternating cycle of updates for my stories has changed. Updates will now be made in the following order:

1. Kitsune of Las Noches

2. The Maelstrom and Deathberry

3. Naruto - Shinigami on the Prowl

* * *

I apologize for the wait and I hope this chapter was worth it.


	15. 13: The Fading Moon

**Chapter 13 – The Fading Moon: Ichigo vs. Grimmjow**

A/N # 1: I apologize for the delay; this chapter was just very difficult for me to write and it took forever.

Please keep sending Faves, Follows, and especially Reviews

Disclaimer: Still Applies

[Somewhere in Karakura Town]

_Meanwhile…_

Recap:

After a short argument that Grimmjow, miraculously, did not interrupt, Renji finally agreed to get Rukia out of harm's way. Once the two Soul Reapers had left Ichigo turned his attention to the Espada.

"I'll kill you for what you've done," Ichigo hissed as he and the Espada prepared to clash.

Ichigo made the first move as he attempted to stab Grimmjow in the abdomen, the same spot where the Espada had stabbed Rukia. Grimmjow simply sidestepped the attack before he went to punch Ichigo in the face; Ichigo managed to dodge the attack before he attempted to slash at the Arrancar's chest.

Grimmjow simply held out his right hand and caught Tensa Zangetsu with said hand... without getting a scratch on him. This obviously took Ichigo by surprise.

"_That's impossible; with his bare hand?_" Ichigo thought to himself as Grimmjow used the zanpakuto as a crude sling to throw Ichigo into the air.

Ichigo, after a few minutes, was able to regain his footing in time to see that the Espada was preparing to launch another attack. Grimmjow tried to follow up on the throw but before he could the Arrancar realized that Ichigo had suddenly appeared behind him and attacked; Grimmjow used his quick reflexes to turn around and block Ichigo's slash with his forearm which took Ichigo by surprise yet again.

"My turn," Grimmjow said with a smug look on his face as he used Ichigo's zanpakuto to lift himself up before the Espada kicked Ichigo in the face multiple times.

This barrage sent Ichigo flying to the town below and caused Ichigo to crash into an abandoned warehouse. As the building collapsed into rubble Grimmjow stood above the scene of devastation, shaking his head in dissappointment.

"I was hoping that your Bankai would be a little more impressive; if that thing only increases your speed then you don't have any chance of defeating me," the Arrancar said as the column of smoke that had engulfed the ruined building below began to clear. When it did Grimmjow was surprised to see that Ichigo had recovered from his barrage of attacks.

"I'm not finished yet, Grimmjow!" Ichigo said as his sword generated a crescent wave of black-colored spiritual energy.

"Getsuga Tenshō!" Ichigo roared as he swung his blade, releasing the mass of spiritual energy right at Grimmjow.

The Arrancar tried to block the attack as he had with Ichigo's other attacks; this attack, however, packed a greater punch than Grimmjow had anticipated and managed to hit the Arrancar dead-on. Even the Grimmjow's Hierro wasn't enough to completely protect him from harm as Ichigo's Getsuga left a massive scar on the Espada's torso among other injuries.

Ichigo, upon seeing the wounds he inflicted, expected Grimmjow to become enraged at him; the Soul Reaper was surprised when the Espada actually laughed as if, against all common sense, he was suddenly enjoying these turn of events.

"Now, Kurosaki... now you're someone worth killing! As a show of respect for wounding me allow me to show you my full power," Grimmjow said as he unsheathed his zanpakuto which had a light blue handle and a tsuba that resembles a crooked S.

The Espada held up his blade with his right hand as if he was going to perform a low sweep stroke; the zanpakuto then began to glow a bright blue, much to Ichigo's shock, as Grimmjow placed his left hand on the glowing sword while his psychotic grin appeared to grow even wider than it was previously.

"Grind, Pantera," Grimmjow said as he raked his left hand along the length of the entire blade in one swift motion.

As soon as the former Adjuchas complete his zanpakuto's release a massive wave of spiritual pressure emanated from the Arrancar along with strong gusts of wind. To Ichigo, who watched the entire thing in shock, Grimmjow's release appeared to be similar to that of Naruto's shikai release minus the massive explosion; though Grimmjow wasn't even remotely close to unleash the amount of power that Naruto could release it was more than enough to destroy the young Kurosaki, as he would soon learn.

Ichigo, who had been blinded by the gusts of wind from the Sixth Espada's zanpakuto release, finally managed to get a good look at his opponent after a few seconds; what Ichigo saw surprised him a great deal.

Grimmjow's appearance had changed to something that was very much like a predatory feline. Grimmjow's teeth had suddenly become more jagged and sharp while his hands and feet had become black claws and paws respectively. Grimmjow now had a slender whip-like tail that was longer than his body while his hair became very long and flowing. The markings around his eyes were enlarge and extended to the tips of his ears, which were now swept back and cat-like in their appearance as well. Grimmjow's distinctive jaw mask had been replaced by some sort of headgear that was placed upon his brow, covering his forehead, while his Arrancar clothing had also been replaced, on this case by a form-fitting, white, segmented armor that also included blade-like protrusions on his forearms and calves.

Ichigo just stood there, completely speechless, as Grimmjow turned his gaze towards the Substitute Soul Reaper.

"It's all over for you, Kurosaki," Grimmjow said rather smug tone.

Before Ichigo could even register what Grimmjow had just said the Espada suddenly let out a loud roar which generated a large shockwave that pinned the Soul Reaper to the ground. Attempting to use the Substitute now vulnerable position to his advantage Grimmjow, using his release-enhanced speed, tries to attack Ichigo while he is on the ground; before his attack could connect, however, it was blocked by a triangular shield that appeared out of nowhere.

Both Ichigo and Grimmjow were shocked at the sudden interruption of their fight though less so with Ichigo as he recognized the barrier; Kurosaki looked to his right and was surprised to see that Orihime was standing there, with a few missing pieces of her hair clips indicating that she had used her Shun Shun Rikka to erect the barrier that now separated the two combatants.

Ichigo, though relieved to see that Orihime was okay, was more preoccupied with another thought.

"Get out of here, Orihime; he's too strong," Ichigo warned his friend.

"But... Ichigo you're-" Orihime tried to respond before Renji, who had taken Rukia to a secluded location to recover from her injuries, arrived.

"He's right, Orihime; this guy's way beyond our level. We have to fall back," Renji said; as the Soul Reaper Lieutenant tried to convince Orihime to leave Grimmjow began to laugh in a maniacal tone.

"You can run all you like but since you my fight it won't do any of you any good. Now I'm going to make you pay for getting between me and my prey," Grimmjow said as he began to charge a Cero that he pointed, to Ichigo's horror, at Orihime.

"_I need to move; if I don't..._" Ichigo thought as he stood up, the shockwave that Grimmjow had hit him with having taken its toll on Ichigo.

Grimmjow soon fired his Cero which came to within 10 feet of its intended target when it was suddenly blocked by a desperate Ichigo who had flash stepped in between his friend and the attack and tried to hold the powerful beam back; unfortunately for Ichigo the Cero was too strong for even him and, after a few minutes, the beam broke through. As Ichigo began to scream in agony Orihime, who was pulled out of the way of the blast by Renji, watched the whole thing in horror.

When the explosion dissipated and the resulting cloud of debris clear shortly thereafter, Orihime looked at the silhouette that had appeared within the cloud; what she saw was the unmoving figure of her crush Ichigo... with a massive hole in his chest.

"Nooo!" Orihime shrieked as Ichigo's lifeless body fell to the ground; she was so focused on Ichigo that she didn't hear Grimmjow.

"How pathetic; he was too easy to beat. Anyways, now it's your turn, [expletive]; you'll soon joi-," the Espada said before he was interrupted by an attack by Renji who now had a look of pure rage in his eyes.

"I'll kill you, you damned Arrancar bastard!" Renji roared as he activated his Bankai before he began to attack the Espada.

While Grimmjow and Renji duked it out Orihime went to the fallen Ichigo's side the moment the two combatants were a safe distance away; she immediately tried to heal Kurosaki's wound with her Sōten Kisshun but soon realized that it was to no avail.

Realizing that her powers wouldn't be enough to save her friend Orihime began to cry.

"PLEASE DON'T DIE, ICHIGO! I NEED YOU!" Orihime pleaded in a blind panic as Renji, his abilities restricted by the power limiter placed on him, was getting pummeled by Grimmjow.

Orihime would almost come to regret her pleas as Ichigo, within the depths of his mind, heard them all too well.

"_Was that…..Orihime? I can't die… I have to protect her… Get up... Get up... Get up, damn it!_" Ichigo said within his mind as a response to Orihime's cries for help; as his body began to transform it would become clear, however, that the being that would awaken was not really Ichigo.

Orihime, who had been crying a lot, failed to notice that Ichigo suddenly rose to his feet or that he changed until she felt a massive amount of spiritual pressure emanate from "Ichigo".

"Ichigo! I'm so glad you're alright..." Orhime said with joy until the sight of her "friend" caused her voice to trail off. Ichigo had changed into... something entirely different from a Soul Reaper if his appearance was any indication of the fact.

Ichigo's orange hair was long and straight, now reaching down to his waist, while the hole in his chest was now decorated with markings that stretched from the hole, across his chest and shoulders. He had claws on his fingertips and toes and six small furry red tufts; two of them started from his collarbone and stretched around his neck while one was now each on his wrists and ankles. Ichigo now had seemingly white skin and, to further unnerve Orhime, Renji, and Grimmjow #the latter two had stopped fighting each other upon sensing "Ichigo's" reiatsu flare up#, a Hollow mask that was shaped the same as his face and covered his entire head.

The mask had four black spike-shaped marks; two of them stretched by the forehead while the other two stretched past the eyes and teeth before going past his chin and joining with the marks on his chest. There were also small marks resembling a heart, but with the top and bottom open, that extended from the inner corners of his eyes. The mask also featured two long forward-pointing horns with black stripes extending from their center towards the tips.

(A/N: This is Ichigo's 2nd Hollow form; I skipped the first form for various reasons)

Orhime looked on nervously at the strange sight before her; she then noted, with great fear, that "Ichigo's" spiritual pressure suddenly felt much darker and more sinister. Renji had also made note of the change in spiritual pressure within his fellow Soul Reaper and immediately made sure that he got Orihime a safe distance away from him; the lieutenant knew something was horribly wrong with Ichigo. Grimmjow, on the other hand, was just pissed off at the sight of his opponent still standing.

"How the [expletive] hell are you still standing, Kurosaki? You're supposed to be dead, dammit; what did you do?!" Grimmjow hissed at "Ichigo"; the Espada got even more enraged when he received no response from the transformed "Ichigo".

"If you won't answer me then I'll just finish you off now!" Grimmjow roared in anger before he rushed to face "Ichigo".

Before Grimmjow could even reach his opponent, however, he was suddenly thrown back by his opponent and launched several hundred yards into the sky; as Grimmjow tried to regain his footing he looked at his opponent in disbelief.

"_What the [expletive]? He just used Sonido; how the hell could he use that technique? He's not even a Hollow, dammit!_" Grimmjow said as he tried to comprehend what had just happened.

As Grimmjow stood there, unable to understand what was going on, "Ichigo" made some sort of hand gesture; as if in response to this motion "Ichigo's" zanpakuto returned to his hand.

As soon as "Ichigo" grasped the blade he let out a massive roar along with a massive surge of very dark spiritual pressure that terrified Orihime and Renji... as well as intimidate even the Sixth Espada.

"What the [expletive] is this spiritual pressure? It's so massive... is he truly just a Soul Reaper? What are you... WHAT THE [expletive] ARE YOU, KUROSAKI!" Grimmjow roared; his heart stopped when he heard a reply... just inches from his ears.

"I'm behind you..." a low, disorted, Hollow-like voice said.

Before Gimmjow could even react he got punched in the face by "Ichigo" and was sent flying several hundred yards into the air. As Grimmjow regained his footing and continued to fight a losing battle against his opponent Orihime and Renji just continued to look on in fear. They both had a feeling that whatever that being was... it wasn't Ichigo.

Grimmjow, meanwhile, was getting beaten like a drum by the Hollowfied entity that was Ichigo as all his attacks were easily countered; after several minutes of failed attempts the Espada decided to make Ichigo regret what he did... by killing Orihime and Renji.

"Now watch as your two friends die, Kurosaki," Grimmjow said as as he created a red Cero and, after taking a minute to build up the Cero's power so he could make sure that Renji and Orihime would not survive, launched it at the two.

The extra minute Grimmjow had taken to charge up that Cero was thankfully, for Renji and Orihime, a minute too long.

"Mini Tailed Beast Ball," someone yelled out before a black orb suddenly came out of nowhere and smacked into the Cero; this caused the attacks to explode in midair, saving the lives of both Renji and Orhime while pissing off Grimmjow in the process.

"How the [expletive] was my Cero stopped?!" Grimmjow hissed; he turned his head to the direction from which the attack came from. Renji and Orihime, who were also looking in the same direction, were surprised to see Kurama, of all people, standing before them.

The Tailed Beast simply looked at Grimmjow, with his best impression of one of Sai's fake smiles etched onto his face, before he replied.

"Now why would answer that?" he said in a mocking tone; Kurama's mannerisms, as he had hoped, only infuriated the Espada even more.

"I'm going to wipe that damned smile off your face!" Grimmjow roared as he charged at the Tailed Beast.

The Arrancar was so enraged that he failed to notice another new prescence that had also arrived... until that person sucker punched him in his right jaw. As Grimmjow crashed into another abandoned building that person flash stepped to Renji and Orihime. They both turned to face that person, one Naruto Uzumaki.

"Sorry we're late... but, then again, better late than never," Naruto said as he prepared to face both Grimmjow and the possessed Kurosaki...

Next Time – A True Demon: Naruto vs. Hollowfied Ichigo

A/N # 2: Before anyone says anything about Ichigo being too weak I want you readers to know that I began this story before Ichigo's training with the Visoreds and, as such, he still doesn't have any control over his Inner Hollow (Ichigo, in other words is at a much lower level than he is in some crossovers); don't worry, however, as I will compensate for this.

A/N # 3: I know it's a short chapter for such a long wait but I had such a hard time writing this chapter that this was as far as I could go; I apologize for any disappointments.


	16. 14: A True Demon

**Chapter 14 - A True Demon: Naruto vs. Hollowfied Ichigo**

**Warning:** The chapter contains a non-canonical interpretation of the Shunko technique (I've had people who've sent these PMs about simliar type of issues with any technique/jutsu in all of my stories and this really annoys me).

Please keep sending Faves, Follows, and especially Reviews

Disclaimer: Still Applies

[Somewhere in Karakura Town]

Recap:

The Arrancar was so enraged that he failed to notice another new prescence that had also arrived... until that person sucker punched him in his right jaw. As Grimmjow crashed into another abandoned building that person flash stepped to Renji and Orihime. They both turned to face that person, one Naruto Uzumaki.

"Sorry we're late... but, then again, better late than never," Naruto said.

_Current Time..._

Grimmjow, quickly recovering from the sneak attack, turned to face the blond ninja/soul reaper who likewise faced Grimmjow; Kurama, meanwhile proceeded to engage the Hollowfied Ichigo in order to buy his jinchuriki some time.

As the Tailed Beast tried to force his opponent out of town, Naruto glared at the Sixth Espada.

"Are you the bastard who did this to Ichigo?" Naruto said, the anger in his voice very clear to everyone present.

Naruto's rage only grew when Grimmjow smirked before he replied.

"Yeah, you got a problem with that? If you do then I'll just kill you here," Grimmjow said, completely unaware of who he was dealing with.

"Give it your best shot; I promise to give it back to you a thousand-fold," Naruto said as he made a hand sign.

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Naruto was suddenly enveloped by a poof of smoke; Grimmjow was shocked to see that 1000 exact copies of his opponent emerged.

"How the hell did you do that? Who are you, dammit!" Grimmjow hissed.

"My name's Naruto Uzumaki and I'm the one who's gonna kick your ass," one of the shadow clones said as he and the others had their copies of Kenja take their shikai form; the real Naruto, not having the actual Kenja with him, pulled out both of Shikamaru's chakra blades.

"I'm the 6th Espada, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, and I'm going to make you pay for that cheap shot you gave me, Uzumaki," Grimmjow said.

Before the either Naruto or Grimmjow could make their move, however, the Arrancar looked up at the sky before he jumped back, dodging several reishi arrows that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"What the-?" Grimmjow said until he was interrupted by a what sounded like a male voice.

"It would appear that you are much faster than I had anticipated; I guess this will not end as quickly as I had hoped," the voice said.

Naruto turned around and was surprised to see a man that he hadn't met before. He was tall and had fair skin, white hair, and blue eyes; he was wearing a grey suit with a light blue shirt underneath, a tie that was adorned with a bunch of crosses, and thin, frameless, glasses. What really got Naruto's attention, however, was the white shortbow that the man held in his right hand; to the young Uzumaki it felt very similar to Uryu's bow in terms of spiritual pressure though it was much stronger than the one Uryu wielded.

"_Is he one of those umm... people that Uryu mentioned?_" Naruto thought to himself, having forgotten what Uryu called himself, before he heard a familiar voice.

"I have to say, young Naruto, you certainly have no shortage of guts," the voice said as if said person was amused.

Before could register those words Grimmjow was suddenly trapped in a green Kido barrier of some sort. It was apparently effective since Grimmjow was not unable to escape it and, in fact, couldn't be heard from within the barrier when he tried to rant about something.

Naruto, realizing what had happened, looked to the right of the white-haired and was surprised to see that Kisuke, Yoruichi, and even Isshin were there. Renji and Orihime, who were watching the entire scene unfold, were even more taken aback by what they were seeing.

"Hold on just a minute. What's going on here?" Renji asked as if it were a demand.

Kisuke, who had his fan out at the time, closed it shut as he began his explanation with a very serious expression on his face.

"Well you see, Renji, Naruto managed to break out of the shop and headed towards the battle; Yoruichi and and I went to get some backup in order to get our shinobi guest back when we sensed that Ichigo's Inner Hollow had broken free. We decided to deal with it first and, well, here we are," Kisuke explained.

Orihime couldn't believe what she just heard.

"Ichigo's... Inner Hollow? What are you talking about?" Orihime asked; she and Renji were taken by surprise again when Naruto was the one who answered.

"It's his inner demon, which has been to take over Ichigo's body; it's sort of like how Kurama used to be. In other words, Orihime, that person you're seeing... is not really Ichigo," Naruto said.

Orihime was terrified to hear this and, since her pleas for help was the thing that caused this being to appear, she felt responsible for what had happened. Renji, who was in disbelief, turned to Naruto.

"How did you know about that and, more importantly, how did you know that Ichigo's Inner Hollow had broken free?" Renji asked; Naruto sighed before he replied.

"When I first met Ichigo in the Soul Society I sensed a dark presence within him; when I asked Kisuke about that feeling he told me all about it. When that Inner Hollow broke free it felt too much like when a fellow Jinchuriki lost control of a Tailed Beast to me so it was just a hunch," Naruto said before Yoruichi entered the conversation.

"In any case it's too dangerous for you three to stick around; we want you guys to get out of here. The four of us will deal with Ichigo and the Arrancar," she said.

Naruto couldn't believe what Yoruichi said; she was basically ordering him to abondon Ichigo which, not surprisingly, didn't sit well with the kind of person Naruto is... as he about to remind her and everyone else there.

As Kisuke and Isshin prepared to relieve Kurama of his fight with the possessed Kurosaki until the two Soul Reapers were suddenly restrained by two of Naruto's shadow clones while the real one started heading in the direction of that same battle, much to everyone's surprise.

"What the hell are you doing, Naruto?" Yoruichi asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to fight him," Naruto replied.

This didn't sit well with the four adults, especially with the white-haired man.

"Are you out of your mind, Uzumaki? I think Ms. Shihoin made herself very clear when she ordered you to fall back; unless you forgotten about those back home that you want to return to you'll do as she says. Besides, there's nothing you can do to save Ichigo," the man said; this got him a very angry glare from Isshin who was about to protest the man's claim until Naruto grabbed the man by his shirt collar.

"Yeah, Yoruichi did order me to fall back. And yeah, you're right about my friends back in my world. And you might even be right about Ichigo. So what? If you think that I'll abandon a friend just because of that then maybe I should tell you about an important lesson that I once learned," Naruto said.

When no one said anything Naruto continued his little speech.

"Someone once told me something that I'll never forget: Those who break the rules are scum... but those who abandon their friends... are worse than scum. If I have to choose between the I'll choose to be scum everytime... so don't you ever ask me to abandon a friend. You got that?" Naruto said before he let go of the man.

Renji smirked at this.

"_I'm glad to see that there's someone who's a lot like Ichigo from that world, regardless of that annoying nickname he gave me,_" Renji thought to himself as he finally resealed Zabimaru.

Naruto, meanwhile, told Kisuke and the others to stay out of this fight; the white-haired man, still refusing to listen to Naruto, was about to protest when Isshin cut him off.

"That's enough, Ryuken, just let him go," Isshin said in a very serious tone; Ryuken finally relented in his uncharacteristic outburst upon the elder Kurosaki's intervention. Naruto turned his head so he could face Ichigo's father.

"Thank you, Mr. Goat Beard; I promise to bring back Ichigo alive," Naruto said before he flash stepped to the fight.

As soon as he did that Orihime and Renji went back to Urahara's shop while Kisuke explained their next move.

"Since we still have to deal with that Arrancar why don't you (he faces Yoruichi) and Ryuken deal with him. Since there's still a threat to Naruto's safety other than Ichigo's Inner Hollow Isshin will keep an eye on him... just in case," Kisuke explained before the four acquaintances split off into their little teams...

[Karakura Town Outskirts]

_Meanwhile..._

Kurama had his hands full as he fought the Hollowfied Ichigo; despite having gotten the possessed Soul Reaper a reasonably safe distance away from the town the Tailed Beast now had to stall him until Naruto arrived without killing him or getting himself killed. Considering the strength of Ichigo's Inner Hollow, which was far greater than what Ulquiorra could ever hope to achieve, this was a very difficult task since Kurama was still far too close to Karakura Town to even consider unleashing anymore than three of his tails, which was the the current number that he had already unleashed.

After a few miniutes of fighting Kurama distanced himself from the Hollowfied Ichigo just as it launched a very powerful Cero in the space between the tips of his two horns.

"_This thing just doesn't quit,_" Kurama thought to himself as he dodged the attack.

The moment Kurama moved out of the attack's path, however, the Hollowfied entity tried to slash at the Tailed Beast while he was in midair. The possessed Kurosaki before brought Tensa Zangetsu down on his opponent; instead of striking Kurama, however, the zanpakuto was blocked by two small blades that were crossed together.

"You're getting soft, Kurama, if you've only gone up to three of your tails," a voice said to the Tailed Beast.

"What choice did I have? This is the most I can unleash without destroying the town. Besides it's not like you would've done any better... Naruto," Kurama said. That last sentence caused a giant vein on Naruto's forehead to emerge.

"Oh shut up, Kurama," Naruto yelled back as he pushed the Hollowfied Ichigo away in order to end the deadlock.

As Naruto and Kurama, who was still in his three-tailed form, backed up several yards from the Hollowfied Substitute Soul Reaper the blond ninja decided to put the two chakra blades he was wielding back in one oof his ninja tool pouches.

Kurama's eyes widened at seeing that as he quickly realized what Naruto was planning.

"You've got to be kidding me, Naruto. Do you know the danger that you're placing on Karakura Town if you use that?" Kurama asked.

"With Kenja fighting elsewhere it's the only option that'll work and you know it," Naruto said.

Kurama sighed at this; as much as the Tailed Beast hated to admit it his jinchuriki had a point. Naruto's jutsus by themselves would not be enough for him to fight against the Hollowfied Kurosaki so there wasn't much else he could do other than use that.

"Just try not to overdo it, Naruto," Kurama warned him to which Naruto nodded.

Naruto then went to a nearby clearing, leaving Kurama to deal with the Hollowfied Ichigo for a few more minutes, where he approached one of his shadow clones that he had left there. The clone was sitting with his legs crossed, unmoving, as a large amount of reishi flowed into the clone causing him to enter Sage Mode; Naruto had learned to use reishi in the place of natural energy so he could utilize Sage Mode. Naruto dispelled the clone which granted him Sage Mode.

"_I hope you hurry up, Kenja, because I can't do this for long without putting Ichigo's home at risk,_" Naruto thought to himself as he headed back towards the fight.

He arrived just as the Hollowfied Ichigo began charging up another Cero; the possessed Kurosaki launched the ball of spiritual pressure at Kurama who managed to dodge the attack yet again.

"You ready, Naruto?" Kurama asked; Naruto nodded before he warned the Tailed Beast to back away from him.

Kurama had no problem obliging as he knew that what his Jinchuriki/friend was very dangerous.

Once the Tailed Beast was out of range Naruto began activated his Shunko which enveloped him in a aura of white lightning. Naruto was suddenly very thankful at that moment that the Kido that flowed through him did not require any incantation. As Naruto had been unable to remeber the myriad of chants used for the other spells the Uzumaki decided to forego their use, meaning that the use of Shunko was the only time Naruto applied any sort of Kido in combat.

Naruto shook off these thoughts before he finished the activation of his Shunko which cost him a few seconds as well the top half of his shihakusho while the Hollowfied Kurosaki released large amount of his spiritual pressure in response.

"Here I come," Naruto said to the possessed Kurosaki before he and his opponent charged at each other head-on.

The Hollowfied Ichigo swung his zanpakuto down on Naruto who proceeded to dodge the attack at the last moment... thanks to his Sage Mode which was still activated.

_At Same Time... _

As Naruto first unleashed the power of his Shunko the shocked Isshin, who was watching the battle from a safe distance alongside Kisuke, was amazed at the young Uzumaki's display of power with that technique.

"How is this possible; his Shunko is more powerful than Yoruichi's several times over," Isshin said to Kisuke.

"It's because he's able to amplify the power of the technique with that Sage Mode of his," Kisuke answered.

This only confused Ichigo's father even further if his expression was any indication so Kisuke elaborated on the matter; Kisuke had read several books about the shinobi shortly after Naruto had first arrived in Karakura Town, Sage Mode among the various topics in those texts.

"Sage Mode is a technique that allows those who've obtained it, including young Naruto, to gather the natural energy in the Chakra Realm, or the reishi of this world, to give all of his/her jutsus a major power boost; when Naruto was training to use Shunko, however, we found out that this Sage Mode imparts an effect on his Shunko, and vice-versa, after one of his clones, which had been practicing Sage Mode, accidently dissipated. You see, Isshin, since the Kido used in Shunko actually allows the user to draw on the ambient reishi in the atmosphere along with their own spiritual energy to utilize this technique the fact that's he's using another ability that also draws in reishi allows him to push the power of Shunko to unimaginable levels while also increasing the range of his Frog Kata fighting style," Kisuke said.

"Frog Kata?" Isshin asked.

"It's a unique ability that only a practicioner of Sage Mode can use. When a Sage draws in natural energy that energy forms an aura that surrounds their entire being and is an actual extension of their own bodies; in short this ability allows a Sage to not only increase their range of their taijutsu attacks but to also dodge attacks at the last possible moment. In this particular case the influence of Naruto's Shunko is actually doubling the range of the Frog Kata style," Kisuke replied.

Isshin whistled lowly at hearing all of this.

"Sounds like scaring stuff, Kisuke," Isshin said while making a mental note to never be anywhere near Naruto if he begins absorbing reishi.

"Yes it is. (he sighs) But there's a major catch to using both techniques simultaneously; the amount of reishi-enhanced energy that Naruto utilizes is very difficult to control and if Naruto is unable to keep that energy in check it will discharge rather violently seriously injuring himself and destroying a massive part of the area around him unless he releases most of that energy before it gets to that point," Kisuke said.

Isshin's eyes widened as Kisuke continued his explanation.

"Naruto can easily keep that power in check with the use of his Sage Mode but since he'll start to lose control once his Sage Mode reaches its time limit he can only use his enhanced Shunko for as long as he can keep his Sage Mode active. In other words he can only use that enhance Shunko... for only ten minutes at a time. This means that, in this battle, he'll need to defeat Ichigo's Inner Hollow in that timespan or hope that his materialized zanpakuto finishes her battle in that time... or Karakura Town may need a larger graveyard after all this," Kisuke stated ominously to the elder Kurosaki.

Just as Kisuke finished his explanation a massive explosion rocked the area where Naruto and the Hollowifed Ichigo were battling each other; it was at this moment that it became clear to Isshin that they were running out of time. Since the elder Kurosaki decided to allow the young ninja to fight his son, however, there was nothing that anyone could do but wait and hope that Naruto, Ichigo, and everyone else lived to see another day...

Next Time – As A Friend: Naruto vs. Hollowfied Ichigo, Conclusion


	17. 15: As A Friend

**Chapter 15 – As A Friend: Naruto vs. Hollowfied Ichigo, Conclusion**

**A/N (Very Important; Please Read It): At the end of Chapter 8 (which is in the Chapter 10 slot) I wrote an another A/N in which I said that I would post links to Youtube videos that played themes from the Naruto and Naruto Shippuden OSTs (I choose these themes to fit the scene) during certain scenes in this story in order to help create a mood. Even though I said that I wouldn't test it out until mid-way into Part 2 I just couldn't resist the temptation to try it anymore. Anyways, when you see the simply open a blank tab copy and paste the link (don't forget to undo the spaces) and enjoy! Then tell me what you think. **

Please keep sending Faves, Follows, and especially Reviews

Disclaimer: Still Applies

[Unspecified Forest, 40 Miles Outside of Karakura Town]

_Four Minutes Later…_

The battle between Naruto and the Hollowfied Kurosaki was turning into a rather destructive one as each second passed; the surrounding landscape was a clear testament to the awesome power that both warriors possessed. The fight had gotten so intense, in fact, that the young Uzumaki had to push the battlefield the possessed Ichigo even further away from the Substitute's own hometown just to prevent any major destruction was inflicted on the helpless town.

As Naruto dodged a series of slashes from "Ichigo's" Tensa Zangetsu he backed up several yards before turning to face Kurama who had unleashed his sixth tail around halfway into the fight. As far as appearances this six-tailed form was exactly the same as the one Naruto unleashed during his fight with pain, right down to the skeleton that formed around his body. Realistically Kurama was more than able to fight and beat the Hollowfied Ichigo with just four of his tails released; if the Tailed Beast had done that, however, the destruction that a much more close-run battle like that would've wrought across the area been too great even with Naruto fighting alongside him.

"Got any bright ideas, Kurama?" Naruto asked.

As he was determined to not kill Ichigo the young Leaf ninja was trying to break the grip that the Kurosaki's Inner Hollow had over him but, not surprisingly, it was much more difficult than it might have sounded to most people.

Kurama didn't even turn to face Naruto even as he answered him though he didn't really have a reason to do so since the Tailed Beast spoke telepathically when he was in any stage of his Version 2 form.

"If I had anything other than breaking that mask I would've told you already, Naruto; such as it is there appears to be no other option than that," the Tailed Beast answered.

Naruto glared at the being that has lived, and still lives, inside of him from the day he was born. The young ninja had actually suggested that they should try to break the the possessed Ichigo's Hollow Mask right after he acttivated his enhanced Shunko but Kurama told him to wait until he could think of a better solution; since there was no guarantee that breaking the mask wouldn't "kill" Ichigo as it would any other hollow Kurama wanted to see if maybe there was another way to stop this madness but, in the end, the Tailed Beast only wasted several minutes that neither he nor Naruto could afford to waste.

Naruto somehow managed to resist the urge to smack Kurama across the head in his anger due to the fact that he was much more concerned about ending this battle in less than six minutes. The young shinobi had an plan to get close enough but it would very risky to try do it and if something went horribly wrong...

"_I have to stop thinking like that; now's not the time to be worrying about things like that,_" Naruto thought to himself as he eyed the Hollowfied Kurosaki who had stopped attacking him.

"Kurama," he said.

"What?" Kurama asked in response.

"I need to cover me; I have an idea that should get me close enough to get to that mask but it's going to be very risky," Naruto said which caused Kurama to sigh.

"It's not like we have a choice; let's just get it over with," Kurama said.

As soon as he finished saying that the Tailed Beast lunged at "Ichigo" who sidestepped the swipe that would've otherwise torn him in half. The Hollowfied Ichigo then thrusted his sword at Kurama's heart but the blade only ended up getting blocked by one of the Tailed Beast's tails. Kurama then used the opening that he now had to take another swipe at the Hollowfied Ichigo; this attack managed to hit it's mark, hitting the possessed Kurosaki squarely in the abdomen and sending the hollowfied Substitute Soul Reaper flying into the air.

The Hollowfied Kurosaki managed to quickly regained his footing... so quickly, in fact, that he was able to dodge Naruto as he tried to punch the mask. Unbeknownst to the possessed Ichigo, however, he was still in range of Naruto's Shunko-enhanced Frog Kata style and, as a result, he was blown back by a blow to the chin. This sent "Ichigo" flying back several miles until he once again regained his footing, just in time to see Naruto perform a jab that launched a massive beam of compressed Kido at him. Unbeknownst to Kurama his jinchuriki was planning to release all of the compressed Kido into this attack since the Uzumaki had lost track of time and didn't know how much time he had left before his Sage Mode dissipated.

"Get out of here now, Kurama!" Naruto yelled at his friend as he continued pumping more of his power into the attack.

Kurama was more than willing to oblige his as he at least realized that staying around his friend was about to become a suicidal action.

"Ichigo" was quick to counter Naruto's attack as he generated a very massive Cero in the area in front of the tips of it and, once it was completed, fired the crimson red ball of spiritual energy right at the beam of white-colored Kido heading right for him; the attacks soon collided with each other and were soon trying to overpower the other as Naruto and the Hollowfied Ichigo tried to keep their respecitve footing as the shockwave generated from the collision of the two attacks threatened to blow the both of them due to the shockwave's intensity.

The two energy attacks keeping pushing at each other as red and white sparks began flying everywhere which was a sign that both of the attacks were becoming very unstable. After thirty seconds, though it felt like an eternity to both Naruto and Kurama with the latter using that "eternity" to as far away from the area as possible, the attacks could no longer sustain themselves. The Cero and the Sage Mode-enhanced Shunko energy beam actually fused into one mass of spiritual energy in the space between before that mass exploded immediately after that point, with Naruto and the Hollowfied Ichigo getting caught in the blast.

The explosion wasn't that wide, only reaching twenty miles in diameter; that miraclous stroke of luck (by all rights the explosion should've destroyed Karakura Town) only occured, however, due to the fact that the explosion went "up" instead of "out" as the explosion took the form of a massive white column that penetrated several miles into sky.

"Naruto!" Kurama yelled as the column of energy dissipated; he had moved so quickly that he had gotten out of range of the explosion in mere moments.

Kurama was now using that same speed to head to where he now sensed Naruto and "Ichigo's" spiritual pressures. As he got closer to where his jinchuriki/friend and the out-of-control Kurosaki he suddenly noticed to his horror that both Naruto's chakra and spiritual pressure was slightly fluctuating which could only mean the worst thing that could've have come to pass: Naruto had been seriously, though not mortally, wounded. When Kurama finally got to where the other two were, the sight that greeted was not one that horrified him but instead confused him greatly.

Naruto was indeed wounded, with "Ichigo's" Tensa Zangetsu piercing the left side of the young shinobi's lower abdomen which was now covered with blood. Instead of trying to push the Hollowfied Ichigo's zanpakuto away, however, Naruto now grasped the sword with his left hand to keep his opponent in place and, even more shocking than that, the blond-haired Uzumaki was actually pulling more of the blade though the grazing wound as if he was trying to pull its wielder closer to him. While Naruto's left hand kept an unbreakable grip on Tensa Zangetsu the young ninja's right hand was caught in a similar situation with the possessed Kurosaki's free hand as he kept a firm grip on the wrist of "Ichigo's" left hand even as the rampaging Subsitute tried to shove said hand into Naruto's face.

As the two combatants, both of whom were exhausted from this battle, tried to overpower each other the bewildered Kurama noticed that "Ichigo" began to rear his head back as if he was going to try to use another of his reiatsu-enhanced roars. Kurama more was in even further disbelief when he saw that Naruto's eyes widened, his expressing giving the impression that he had been waiting for this to happen.

"_You can't be serious, Naruto; even you're not that reckless,_" Kurama thought to himself; he was about to get a reminder as to why Naruto was sometimes known as the "Number One Most **Unpredictable** Knucklehead Ninja" back home.

For Kurama had only just finished reassuring himself before he heard Naruto speak out.

"Damn it, Ichigo... wake up... wake up... FOR KAMI'S SAKE, WAKE UP!" Naruto said as he did the one thing Kurama thought he wouldn't do.

Using all the momentum he could muster Naruto, even with "Ichigo's" zanpakuto grazing his side, lunged forward... and headbutted "Ichigo" with all the physical strength he had.

The Uzumaki's forehead, or rather the metal part of the headband that somehow was stilling covering his forehead, smacked the Hollowfied Ichigo's face right where the bridge of the nose was located. At the angle that the possessed Kurosaki's mask was positioned the two horns on his mask were pointed too high to block the Naruto's headbutt.

Despite the strength Naruto used for that strike it initially appeared as though the attack had no effect on the Hollowfied Ichigo as he and the young ninja just stood there as neither combatant had any intention of stopping any time soon.

Kurama, having come to the conclusion that Naruto's attack failed after a few miniues, was about to attack the now vulnerable "Ichigo"; before he could try to lunge at the possessed Substitute Soul Reaper, however, he saw something that made him stop in his tracks.

The Hollowfied Ichigo's mask suddenly shattered, much to Kurama's surprise, after the damage Naruto's headbutt inflicted finally kicked in. If that wasn't enough of a shock the Tailed Beast was further taken aback when the broken pieces of what was the mask of the Ichigo's now-surpressed Inner Hollow, which were floating in middair, turned into some sort of white energy that floated above Ichigo's lifeless body which was now lying on the ground. This white energy then began to heal the hole in Ichigo's chest that had formed as a result of one of Grimmjow's Ceros and had become the Hollowfied Ichigo's Hollow hole.

The moment Ichigo's wound finshed healing Kurama realized that Kurosaki's spiritual pressure had returned to the state it had been before his Hollowfication. This meant that Naruto, who by this time had fallen to his knees due to his injuries and exhauston and who was now grasping the side of his injured left abdomen, had successfully stopped Hollow Ichigo's rampage without killing the Substitute Soul Reaper whom he considered a close friend just as he promised. What Naruto said next, coupled with the smile on his face, made it clear that he was also aware of what had just happened.

"It's finally over..." Naruto said as just as he and Kurama sensed some familiar, and one unfamiliar, spiritual pressures approaching their location...

_Ten Minutes Later..._

Ichigo opened his eyes and, when he realized his face was lying on the floor of a forest clearing, immediately got to his feet as he place his right hand on his chest.

"_Wait a minute, this doesn't make any sense; wasn't I fighting Grimmjow... and didn't I have a hole in my chest?_" Ichigo asked himself within his mind before he heard a trembling, and familiar, voice.

"Ichigo... you're awake. I'm so glad... I'm so glad you're alright."

Ichigo turned his head around to see the group that had arrived; Rukia, Chad, Uryu, a teary-eyed Orihime (who was the one Ichigo heard speak), Toshiro and his Advance Team, Kisuke, Yoruichi, and even Soifon were all there along with Uryu's father and, as if that wasn't enough to surprise Ichigo, even his own father who was wearing a Soul Reaper's shihakusho**.**

Isshin obviously noticed the shocked expression his son sent his way.

"I know, I know; I've got some explaining to do-" Isshin said before he noticed his son simply shook his head at what he was saying.

"You don't have to explain anything; if you didn't say anything until now you probably have your reasons. So I'm willing to wait until the day you decide that it's time I need to know," Ichigo said, much to everyone's surprise; Isshin was especially surprised at how easily Ichigo accepted the truth despite the clear shock of finding out that his father was a Soul Reaper. They were also surprised by with his next question.

"Where'e that bastard, Grimmjow?" Ichigo asked.

"He was beaten... but thanks to that Arrancar named Ulquiorra he was able to get away for now," Yoruichi answered which got a raised eyebrow from Ichigo.

"I'll just have to settle things with him the next tie we meet," Ichigo said before he turned his attention back to the group.

Ichigo took a look at said group as if he was making sure they were okay without even bothering to ask anyone, even himself, why they were here and when they had arrived. As Ichigo stood up he suddenly realized that not everyone was in that small crowd.

"I don't see Naruto, Kurama, or Renji with you guys. Where are they?" Ichigo asked with some concern.

"You can't even detect us... even though we're right here. (heavy breathing) You are definitely... no sensor, that's for sure," a very weak voice from someone to the right of Ichigo said; this caused eyes to widen as he knew who that voice belonged to all too well.

Ichigo turned to his right to see who had said that and almost couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Naruto..." Ichigo said before his voice trailed off.

Naruto was standing up but only with help from Kurama, who reverted back to his human form, and Renji who were keeping him up by slinging either of his arms over their shoulders. The young ninja was breathly heavily and it appeared that he was only able to stand, even with help, thanks to sheer willpower. The entire top half of his Shihakusho was gone and the only thing beside his headband that had not been destroyed was the hidden kunai mechanism that was clamped onto his right and where Kenja was once again sheathed (The female zanpakuto spirit had returned to her sealed form moment before Ichigo woke up).

The blonde was also severly injured, though Naruto had already begun to heal thanks to Kurama's chakra as usual, but it was one injury in particular that caught Ichigo's attention; the left side of his abdomen looked as if it had been grazed and was still bleeding slightly which was indicated that it was the most recent wound. Ichigo then looked at the ground near where the Uzumaki clansmen stood and found, to his horror, what had been the source of that wound; it was Tensa Zangetsu... which was covered in blood.

Naruto faced Ichigo and, despite his injuries, managed to flash a weak smile.

"Hehe... I'm glad to see... that you're still alive... idiot..." Naruto said in mocking tone. Naruto attempt to lighten the mood didn't work in this particular case as Ichigo just kept staring at him.

"That's my zanpakuto... Naruto... am I the one who gave you those wounds?" Ichigo asked; he already knew the answer to his question, however, and he realized what must've happened after Grimmjow had hit him with the cero that should've killed him.

Before Naruto could answer Ichigo, however, another voice, unfamiliar to either Naruto or Kurama but was certainly familiar to everyone else, was heard.

"So you're the Sage of Six Paths reincarnate? How very interesting..." the voice said with soft-spoken male voice.

* * *

OST:

"Girei" (Pain's Theme from Naruto Shippuden) (link: www. youtube .com watch?v=ht7J3zAx9F4&feature=relmfu)

* * *

Naruto, who had finally managed to stand on his own again, and Kurama were both surprised by the other's reactions to that voice; everyone was either scowling, glowering, or just formed an angry expression as everyone turned to face this new person.

It was a fairly tall man, with brown swept back hair, with one strand of hair hanging loosely over his face, and brown eyes. Even though the man didn't have a mask fragment or any clear indications of having a hollow hole, both Naruto and Kurama could tell that this man was not friendly due to the Arrancar outfit he wore, the "menacing" gaze in his eyes, the massive amount of spiritual pressure that emanted from him, and the fact that there's an open Garganta portal right behind him.

"Who is this guy?" Naruto asked as he got into a fighting stance. To Naruto's surprise Ichigo was the one to answer.

"Sosuke Aizen," Ichigo said with a great deal of anger in his voice.

Upon hearing the name Aizen the young Uzumaki glared at the man who had been trying to capture him ever since he arrived in the Soul Society and who had been responsible for nearly killing Ichigo.

"So you're the bastard whose been after me," Naruto hissed out.

As Aizen turned to face Naruto it was clear to everyone that the former captain was unfazed by Naruto's anger.

"I see that you're powers are developing quite nicely; it's a shame that Ulquiorra was unable capture you back in the Soul Society with all that power you wield. Regardless of that, however, that your power will be mine and with that power the Soul Society will fall," Aizen said nonchalantly.

Naruto, despite all of his injuries, had Kenja eject from the kunai mechanism for yet another battle, much to everyone else's shock.

"I don't care who you are or how powerful you are but you won't take me alive, Aizen. I'm going to finish you off here, you damned coward!" Naruto roared defiantly.

Even though he was in no condition to fight another battle at that moment Naruto, being the determined person that has always been, wasn't going to back down from this opponent. Gathering with little strength he had left Naruto began to rush towards at Aizen...

* * *

End of OST Scene

* * *

Before Naruto could even move two steps forward, however, he was suddenly blocked by an arm that had been raised in front of him. The Uzumaki clansmen turned his head to the left and was surprised to see that it was Ichigo who was blocking his way.

"What do think you're doing, Ichigo?" Naruto said.

Ichigo, who was eyeing Aizen at that moment, cocked his head back to his right so that he could face Naruto.

"You and I have done enough fighting for today, Naruto, and as much as I would like to defeat that bastard standing in front of us it's best that we leave him to everyone else here. We're not alone, after all," Ichigo said just as everyone else got into their fighting stances.

Before anyone could make a move, however, Aizen simply gave a light chuckle at this not-so-warm welcome.

"None of you should misunderstand what I have just said; while I will eventually have Naruto's power as my own even with my Kyoka Suigetsu I'm aware that I'm outmatched for the moment. (he temporarily turns his gaze to Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Isshin before he turns it back to Naruto) Just know that I'm going to come for you, shinobi," Aizen said in a threatening manner.

Kurama just gaped at the leader of the Arrancars.

"_Is he trying to intimidate Naruto? Does he honestly believe that would work on him?_" Kurama thought to himself as he knew how Naruto would respond.

As Kurama expected Naruto smirked at Aizen's attempt to get into his head.

"And I'll kick your ass when you do come, you bastard," Naruto proudly said.

Though his expression would never show it Aizen was actually taken aback by Naruto's response and, as he noted the fire (metaphorically speaking) burning in Naruto's eyes, he was now overcome by a sudden desire to head back to Las Noches immediately though he didn't understand why.

"_What is this sensation that I'm feeling?_" Aizen thought to himself; after unable to come up with an answer Aizen decided that this question would have to wait.

Aizen, to everyone's shock, suddenly turned around and entered the Garganta without saying another word.

After a few minutes of silence Ryuken decided to break said silence.

"I guess this battle is finally over," the "Last Quincy" declared apathetically causing everyone to sigh in relief.

Now that the first battle with Aizen and the Arrancars was over everyone began to walk back to Karakura Town. As everyone around spoke of their relief, however, Kisuke suddenly began to feel uneasy.

"_We may have won the battle but this war has only just begun... and I have a sinking feeling that it's going to get much rougher from here on out,_" he thought to himself.

Even Kisuke could never have imagined that the reach of the war against would spread far beyond the World of the Living and the Soul Society...

**End of Part One**

**Tune in Next Time for the Start of Part 2**


	18. Part 2 - 16: Delays

**Part 2: The Clash In The Southern Mountains**

Opening Song: "Ichirin no Hana" by High and Mighty Color (Bleach)

Ending Song: "Echoes" by universe (Bleach)

Please keep sending Faves, Follows, and Reviews

Disclaimer: Still Applies

* * *

Previously on The Maelstrom and Deathberry:

_Naruto Uzumaki was killed in his battle Tobi during the Fourth Great Ninja War when he was, tragically, forced to sacrifice himself in order to finally defeat the masked ninja which, unbeknownst to him, forced his distraught friends and allies to deal with the reanimated Madara Uchiha and his Akatsuki Remnant. _

_Instead of ending up in the afterlife of his own world, however, Naruto, along with Kurama who is better known as the Nine-Tailed Fox, ends up in the Soul Society where, after an encounter with a man named Ulquiorra Cifer, he meets Ichigo Kurosaki, a Substitute Soul Reaper, who, with help from fellow Soul Reapers Rukia Kuchiki, Byakuya Kuchiki and Kenpachi Zaraki, convinces Naruto to come with him and Rukia to the Seireitei, the home of the Soul Reapers. Once inside the Seireitei both Rukia and the leader of the Gotei 13, Head-Captain __Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, explain to Naruto what had happened to him before informing him that not only was the Soul Society aware of the ninja's pending arrival thank to a dream that Ichigo had but that Naruto himself had the potential to become a Soul Reaper. Due to an agreement made 1,000 ago between the Gotei 13 and the legendary Sage of the Six Paths, Naruto, who is apparently the reincarnate of the legendary first shinobi, would be allowed to have a second chance, though he wasn't told as to how that would happen, if he agreed to train to acquire his Soul Reapers._

_After agreeing to take up the Head-Captain's offer Yamamoto entrusted Naruto's training to Ichigo despite the risks to the Uzumaki's safety. Ichigo and Rukia then took Naruto with them to the Ichigo's home in Karakura Town where Naruto, after meeting Ichigo's other friends and a group of Soul Reapers that had been sent by the Gotei 13 to the town prior to Naruto's arrival, began his training a week later after the former Gotei 13 members Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi Shihoin finished the preparations which included the partial separation of Kurama, who was also given a human form, from Naruto though the Tailed Beast was still able to enter and exit Naruto's body at any time. After going through the same training regimen to awaken his Soul Reaper powers as Ichigo the young ninja successfully awaken said power including his zanpakuto, known as Kenja, and began training in various Reaper abilities, while making sure to keep his shinobi abilites sharp. In addition to the training Naruto also began to form very strong bonds of friendship with Ichigo and the others._

_Naruto's training was interrupted a week after it had begun, however, when Sosuke Aizen, the leader of the enemies of the Soul Reapers, the Arrancar Army, and the man who sent Ulquiorra to capture Naruto when he first arrived in the Soul Society, sent five of his strongest warriors, known as the Espada, to attack Karakura Town in order to gauge the ninja's abilities. This forced Naruto, Ichigo, many of the other Soul Reapers, and other spiritually aware beings to fight the Arrancars in order to drive them back. Naruto, with the help of Kenja and the Soul Reaper known as Soifon, was able to hold his own against the Espada Tier Harribel while Kurama was able to easily defeat Ulquiorra. The two Espada were able to retreat along with the other Espada, however, Naruto and Kurama were forced to fight Ichigo who, after a disastrous battle with Grimmjow __Jaegerjaquez__ that should have killed him, lost control to his Inner Hollow and soon threatened to destroy Karakura Town. Despite the objections of Kisuke, Yoruichi, as well as Isshin Kurosaki, Ichigo's father and a powerful Soul Reaper, and Ryuken Ishida, a Quincy and father of Uryu Ishida, Naruto and Kurama managed to stop the rampaging Ichigo without killing him, ending that day's battle. _

_Before anyone could celebrate the victory that day, however, Aizen himself appeared before the defenders of Karakura Town and attempted to intimidate Naruto only to be rebuffed the ninja's strong will. After getting overwhelmed by a feeling that he himself did not recognize Aizen retreated back to his base in Hueco Mundo, leaving Naruto, Ichigo, and the others to wonder Aizen's motivations for this unusual attack as well to ponder their next move..._

* * *

**Chapter 16 – Delays**

Shinobi Quote:

"If you don't like your destiny, don't accept it. Instead, have the courage to change it the way you want it to be!"– Naruto Uzumaki

[Hidden Training Area, Urahara Shop, Karakura Town]

_Current Time..._

Naruto, Ichigo, and everyone who fought against the Espada earlier that day was now inside the massive training area; this was with the exceptions of Ryuken, who no longer saw the need for further involvement, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Rangiku, who had resumed their daily patrols, and Soifon, who had witnessed Naruto's battle with the Hollowfied Ichigo and, realizing that his Shunko was indeed superior to her's or her former master's, was satisfied with what she saw which meant she felt no need to confront the ninja and therefore left.

Even though Naruto wounds had begun healing since Aizen's departure several hours earlier he was still forced to lay on a cot as he and the others discussed what the true purpose behind the Espada's attack.

"It's clear that he wasn't planning to capture Naruto in this attack if Aizen himself walked away without even trying. I'm still at a loss as to what his true motives might've been. Does anyone here have an idea as to why Aizen did this?" Toshiro asked as everyone tried to think of possibilties.

Kurama could not believe how narrow-minded everyone was to the situation as he had figured it out a while back. Since no one else could figure out, however, the Tailed Beast decided to finally give his explanation.

"I think it's rather obvious why they came," Kurama said.

Once everyone else's eyes were turned to face him Kurama continued with his explanation.

"Think about it for a moment: Aizen sends five of his ten strongest subordinates on this invasion to draw Naruto out into battle and yet they retreated soon thereafter without capturing Naruto after he revealed some of his zanpakuto's abilities and a couple of his jutsus during his battles with Harribel. Aizen himself appears at the end of the fighting and should've been able to capture Naruto yet refuses to do so. I think he was simpy testing the waters, so to speak, by trying to gauge what Naruto's abilites are as they stand," Kurama reasoned.

Kurama kept a smirk from appearing on his face when he noticed that everyone except Kisuke suddenly held their heads down in shame after realizing that they were outhought by the Tailed Beast.

"Most likely," Kisuke said. The former head of the Department of Research and Development made sure that everyone was paying attention before he continued speaking.

"Regardless of his motives it's clear that Aizen is becoming much bolder in his actions; the fact that he sent several members of the Espada, who are his best fighters, to attack is proof of that. All of us are going to need to be more vigilant from this point onward. Is that understood?' Kisuke asked to which everyone nodded

Before he could dismiss the group, however, Naruto decided to ask Kisuke about something that had been bothering him since the confrontation with Aizen.

"I was wondering about something, Kisuke; you and everyone else talk a lot about how dangerous but you haven't even told me or Kurama what that bastard's actually capable of except that he's a super genius. Along with the massive amount of spiritual pressure," Naruto pointed out.

Isshin, upon hearing this, looked at Kisuke in disbelief and had to resist the strong urge to punch the former 12th Division captain as he questioned him on Naruto's comment.

"Don't tell me that you didn't warn him of Aizen's abilities, Urahara?" the elder Kurosaki asked incredulously.

Kisuke laughs awkwardly in response to Isshin's question before he responds.

"Well... I really didn't see the need to tell him yet since I didn't think that Aizen would've those type of extreme measures against Naruto. (he sighs) Now that he asked, however, I think that now would be a good time to give you guys an explanation of Aizen's powers... or, more specifically, the abilities of his zanpakuto, Kyoka Suigetsu," Kisuke started before he focused his eyes on Naruto and Ichigo, with the latter of the two having been unusually quiet since the group returned to his shop even though he was paying attention to the conversation.

"So Kyoka Suigetsu is Aizen's zanpakuto, huh? Is it really that dangerous, Kisuke?" Naruto asked the former captain with a great deal of curiosity.

"I was just getting to that, Kurama, okay? (Kisuke sighs) Kyoka Suigetsu... is probably the most powerful Illusion-kido type zanpakuto in existence. Its signature ability, which is called 'Complete Hypnosis', allows Aizen to manipulate the five senses of anyone who gazes upon the released state of Aizen's zanpakuto at least once and, to make things worse, once you've fallen under Kyoka Suigetsu spell, even if it happened years or even decades ago, you're under Aizen's control for as long as you live. Alomst Everyone here has already fallen under the control of Aizen's zanpakuto... (Kisuke turns to face Naruto, Kurama, and Ichigo) you three are the only ones strong enough to face Aizen that haven't under Kyuoka Suigetsu's sell and, believe me when I say this, that's an advantage-" Kisuke explained before he heard Kurama scoff at Kisuke's warning.

"That's it? Kyoka Suigetsu only controls the five senses? Not only is that not much different from most genjutsus from our world but both Naruto and myself already have the means to counter such an abiility," Kurama said nonchalantly.

After a few moments of since everyone else, minus Naruto, looked at Kurama as if he had suddenly grown multiple heads. Ichigo, surprisingly, broke his silence and voiced the one question everyone else undoubtedly wanted to ask him now.

"Are you serious, Kurama? If you and Naruto have a way to defeat Aizen's zanpakuto then what is it?!" Ichigo demanded from the Tailed Beast.

Kurama smirked before he answered.

"It's rather simple, Ichigo; we don't need to rely on our five senses. We do have another sense, which is basically sixth sense, beyond the five senses..." Kurama explained.

Before Kurama could continue with his explanation Yoruichi, who suddenly realized what the Tailed Beast was talking, finished the explanation for him.

"Of course, how could I have forgotten about that? (she looks at the now-confused group before her) It's one of Kurama's little-known special abilities; he actually told me about it a long time ago. You see he actually has the ability to sense other beings... through their negative emotion; furthermore, since Naruto has full access to Kurama's power he can also use this 'sixth sense'," Yoruichi explained.

It didn't long for everyone else to realize the significance of this ability with Toshiro was the one to voice this realization.

"I get it... because this ability to sense negative emotion is not one of the five main senses it's beyond what Aizen's zanpakuto can control; because of that Naruto and Kurama can just ignore their main senses and use that additional sense to see past Aizen's illusions, rendering his zanpakuto useless. Not only that but because these two are specifically sensing negative emotions this extra sense is perfectly suited to use against someone like Aizen who has nothing but emotions like malice and the like," the captain of the 10th Division deduced.

At this point Kisuke reentered the conversation.

"Unfortunately that still leaves Ichigo in a precarious situation; unlike our two quests from the Chakra Realm he doesn't have the luxury of a sixth sense. His only advantage is the fact that he hasn't seen the release of Aizen's zanpakuto," Kisuke said before he turned his eyes to Ichigo.

The former 12th Division Captain continued with his warning once he had Ichigo's full attention.

"I need you to understand this very clearly; no matter what happens, Ichigo, you must maintain your advantage and not let your eyes gaze upon the release of Kyoka Suigetsu, no matter what happens... even after you've gained the strength needed to confront Aizen you must not lose that advantage. Speaking of strength... you know what to do tomorrow, right?" Kisuke said; this got him a nod from Ichigo and, though he didn't notice it, a curious look from Naruto.

His curiosity only increased when Ichigo turned to face his dad and locking eyes with the elder Kurosaki before closing them and letting out a sigh.

"_I wonder what they mean by that? Is Ichigo going to do some training of his own?_" Naruto thought to himself as he listened to the rest of the conversation...

[Kurosaki Residence]

_The Next Morning..._

Ichigo, who went back home with his father after the meeting at Urahara's shop, woke up from bed (miraculously his dad did not try to ambush his orange-haired son) just before dawn, got dressed, got into his Soul Reaper form, and placed Kon inside his body before walking out of the house.

As soon as Ichigo got out of the door, however, he found himself suddenly confronted by the presence of his dad, Naruto, and Kurama, with the latter of the two greater coming as a surprise to the Substitute Soul Reaper.

"What are you two doing here?" Ichigo asked, his question obviously directed at both the blond-haired genin and the Tailed Beast that stood by said genin's side as he already figured that his dad came to see him off.

"Shouldn't it be obvious to you, Ichigo? Kurama and I are going with you to help with your Inner Hollow training," Naruto said in a rather blunt tone.

That second part of the Leaf shinobi's statement took the Substitute Soul Reaper by surprise yet again.

"How did-?" Ichigo asked before Kurama interrupted him.

"After what Kisuke told you I got a little curious about what he meant; after you and your dad left Urahara's store I decided to follow you two to see if I could get anymore information; I caught most what Isshin's was explaining to you. After that I went back and told Naruto about it and... well, I'm sure you can figure out the rest," Kurama explained nonchalantly.

Ichigo sighed at this; in the time Naruto had been in Karakura one thing had become undeniably clear to even someone thick like Ichigo. Naruto and Ichigo were alike in many different ways, including their desire to protect those they cared and their absolute stubborness; those two qualities, as Ichigo realized all too well, meant that any attempt to dissuade Naruto would've been a fool's errand.

"Fine... I already know that talking you out of this is impossible so just try not to cause any trouble, alright... Naruto?" Ichigo warned as he started heading towards his destination.

"You're the one to talk, Strawberry," Naruto deadpanned. Naruto had nicknamed Ichigo after the fruit that shares the same name as the Substitute shortly after his arrival at Karakura Town; Ichigo, in turn, would sometimes refer to Naruto as "Fishcake" on the same basis. They would call each other these nicknames from time-to-time and it never ended well for anyone in the immediate vicinity of the two.

Naruto's response, not surprisingly, caused several vains to poke out of Ichigo's face in anger and caused Kurama to roll his eyes at the scene.

"Both of you... shut up," Kurama demanded; he got his way when he released a bit of his chakra to intimidate both of the spiky-haired kids.

By this time they trio were already heading out; eventually they got out of Isshin's sight. At that point the rather surprised elder Kurosaki could only process one thought in his mind.

"_This is going to be a long wait; maybe I should've forced Naruto to head back instead of helping Ichigo with the Visoreds..._" he thought to himself as he entered his house to prepare for the day...

Next Time - Having Faith: Ichigo's Visored Training Begins


	19. 17: Having Faith

**Chapter 17 ****– **Having Faith: Ichigo's Visored Training

Please keep sending faves, follows, and reviews

Disclaimer: Still applies

This Chapter has an OST Scene

A/N: Ichigo's Visored Training will be very much like how it happened in canon though there will be several changes that I've made, both obvious and subtle, that deviate from what's in the canonical version.

[Unspecified District, Karakura Town]

_Current Time..._

Ichigo, along with Naruto and Kurama, approached an area where the trio had detected a sudden increase in spiritual pressure a few hours after they departed from Ichigo's house. Ichigo had suspected that the people inside were expecting him though how they would react to the presences of both Naruto and Kurama was still unknown.

Naruto could tell that Ichigo was feeling a bit uneasy about coming to this place. During their walk Ichigo told his two companions the little bit of information he knew about the Visoreds, the group of Soul Reaper that he was looking for (most information he got from his dad and his own limited interactions with one of their members, a man named Shinji Hirako), and what he had said made this group seem suspicious to even someone as thick as Naruto.

"These guys sound like a bunch of weirdos; don't you think, Ichigo?" Naruto asked.

Ichigo smirked in response to Naruto's question as he found an opportunity to poke fun at Naruto to lighten the mood.

"Says the guy who still WEARS that much orange in public," Ichigo retorted, causing Naruto to start glaring daggers at him, so to speak. Naruto's outfit had been a source of many jokes from the Soul Reapers (and everyone else in Karakura Town, for that matter), especially after Naruto made a few "changes" to said outfit after Yumichika accidently destroyed the entire top half of his tracksuit a few days prior to the Espada's attack on the town.

Naruto, when he wasn't in his Soul Reaper form, still wore the same pants that had come with the tracksuit but he now wore a short-sleeved coat that was very similar to the one he wore during his battle with Pein; this coat was orange (instead of red as with the previous version) with a black flame pattern along the hemline and a black Uzumaki Clan symbol the back of the coat. Underneath the coat Naruto wore a black long-sleeved shirt with a red version of the Uzumaki spiral over where his heart would be. Naruto's continued overuse of orange in his outfit was noticed by everyone in Ichigo's hometown. As his outfit was commented on even in his world, however, such a reaction from the people of this world, living or dead, was not much of a surprise to anyone; his response to these comments, most of which were unflattering in their nature, was even less shocking to those who got to know him. (A/N: Before you guys ask why this was not placed in an eariler chapter I was going to do this sooner but I kept forgetting to add this until now)

Before Naruto could say anything to Ichigo that would have eventually lead to a fist fight between them Kurama interrupted the two teens.

"Can you two go at least ten minutes without getting into a pissing contest for once? (turns to face Ichigo) Last time I checked, Ichigo, you decided to come to this place for an actual reason... so why don't you and the idiot that is my jinchuriki try to at least focus on something other than annoying each other, okay?" Kurama asked in a very serious tone.

Kurama managed to stop any further arguments between his two companions though he knew that the effect he had would only be temporary; ever since Kurama was given a human form he has basically been the one who kept both teenagers in line the entire time. Even though Naruto and Ichigo had become very close friends in the time that Naruto had been staying in Karakura Town their personalities meant that such scuffles were inevitable and very common; now that the trio was on their own for now, however, the Tailed Beast realized that he would have to be the voice of reason among the threesome and that this might make Ichigo's training a long ordeal for him.

Kurama got out of his train of thought when he noticed that they had finally at what appeared to be their destination; the trio was surprised to see that the location where the spiritual pressure was emanating from appeared to be nothing more than an abandoned warehouse.

"This is their hideout? Are you sure we're the right place, Ichigo?" Naruto asked Ichigo who simply nodded; Naruto could tell that the spiritual pressures were very close but it was obviously being distorted to make it difficult for anyone to trace their sources.

"It's true that I'm not really good at sensing spiritual pressure but... I don't know why but my gut tells me that this is the right place," Ichigo explained to his blond-haired counterpart.

Before Ichigo could say anything else, however, Kurama did a palm strike into what appeared to be thin air; to the surprise of both Ichigo and Naruto Kurama's hand was actually blocked by an unseen barrier.

"Well at least that means someone is in there," Naruto said as he kicked the barrier to see if he could break it as he did not want to wait.

The eyes of both Kurama and Ichigo twitched as a result Naruto's actions.

"Though I doubt they'll let us in if your kicking their barrier like that, Na-" Kurama retorted until, to his shock, the door of the warehouse actually opened.

Naruto smirked at this before he turned to face Kurama.

"You were saying?" Naruto asked in a smug tone.

Ignoring the intense glare coming from Kurama the young Uzumaki began to walk towards the entrance until Ichigo grabbed his right shoulder.

"What's wrong, Ichigo?" Naruto asked.

"I'm the one who decided to look for these guys so it's probably best if I'm the one to enter that place first, Naruto," Ichigo answered; Naruto, though taken aback by this sudden change in Ichigo's mood, simply nodded in agreement.

Ichigo took a deep breath to clear his head before he walked past the barrier and through the door with Naruto and Kurama following his lead. The moment the trio walked past the entrance and into the dark warehouse the door slid shut behind, causing alarm bells to ring inside Naruto and Kurama; their alertness only increased when they heard an unknown male voice.

"Well, well, well... so you've finally decided come here... Ichigo; I wasn't expecting you to bring friends along with you, though," the voice said in rather smug tone.

* * *

OST:

"Hurricane Suite" (from Naruto Shippuden)(link: www. youtube .com watch?v=6WyGsA-3n1g&feature=player_detailpage)

(after the .com add a slash symbol and don't forget to backspace the open spaces)

* * *

Said friends looked up at the source of the voice and were surprised to see that standing among the collapsed floors of the building were eight people who were looking down at them... and they appeared as if they were expecting them. As the trio eyed the group standing before them Naruto and Kurama the voice of Kenja call out to them (since the Tailed Beast still lived inside of Naruto he has a mental link to the zanpakuto even if he can't use the blade).

"_Naruto, Kurama... s__tay on your toes; I have a feeling things are about to go south really fast_," she warned them; taking Kenja's advice to heart both Naruto and Kurama immediately got into fighting stances in case things got ugly very fast.

One of the mysterious people, who appeared to be the possible leader of what appeared to be the Visoreds, walked to the edge of one of the collapsed floors to look down at the trio. It was a man with brown eyes, jaw-length blonde hair which he kept in a straight cut, and had a smile on his face that only revealed his upper teeth. He was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt, a white tie, grey pants that Naruto recognized as being as the ones worn at Ichigo's school, and a weird hat. What caught Naruto and Kurama's attention, however, was the sheathed sword that the man held on his right shoulder; there no doubt in either of their minds that the blade was a zanpakuto.

The man with the weird smile began to speak to Ichigo from the floor he was standing on after he quickly glanced at the two who accompanied the Substitute.

"You look so serious, Ichigo, though I kind of expect that from you; I could say the same thing for the defensive reactions from the shinobi and Tailed Beast," the man said; as one would expect from them the eyes of both Naruto and Kurama widened in shock at this.

"How do you know who we are?" Naruto asked as he clapped his hands together. (A/N: Think of Jiraiya hold his hands when he activated his Sage Mode)

Before anyone realized it Naruto was suddenly engulfed by a large explosion of orange spiritual pressure and strong gusts of wind that dissipated almost as soon as it had begun, revealing that the young Uzumaki was now in his Soul Reaper form.

Kurama, meanwhile, reached for his blade while making sure that he did it slowly enough so that these Visoreds, if that's who these people were, did not notice. The close proximity between himself and Karakura Town meant that Kurama couldn't release his chakra as freely as he did during the Espada's assault on Karakura Town. Though the Tailed Beast had learned how to use the sword that he now carried with him, and learned to use it very well, among the use of a few other skills he still preferred to fight with his released forms and that problem alone was enough to make him cautious.

The man's weird smile grew a little bigger when he saw the hostile reaction from Naruto; as luck would have it for Kurama none of the strangers had yet noticed his attempt to reach for his blade.

"We have our ways; don't you two worry about it, however, as we'll explain it to you in due time. (he refocuses his attention to Ichigo) Since you're here you must have decided to join us, am I right?" the man asked.

Ichigo, who had been holding his head down the entire time while he was deep in thought, finally looked up at the mysterious man with a smirk on his face.

"Screw you!" Ichigo said rather bluntly, causing the man to nearly trip over in surprise.

"I have no intention of joining you and your little gang; I'm not that desperate so don't even think about it. I'm just here to use you... Shinji," Ichigo declared.

The now named Shinji narrowed his eyes at Ichigo when he said that.

"Oh, is that so?" Shinji asked rhetorically before Ichigo continued to talk.

"I'm only here for one thing and I'm not leaving here until I get what I came for; I want you to train me to control my Inner Hollow. After that we're leaving since there are other things we have to deal with once that's done," Ichigo said in a blunt tone.

"Do you really think it'll be as easy as that? What if we refuse to teach you?" Shinji asked.

Ichigo grabbed the cloth-wrapped tang of his zanpakuto before he gave his answer to Shinji.

"Then I'll make you teach me... with brute force," Ichigo said as he readied Zangetsu for battle. Shinji smirked at this display of bravado from Ichigo.

"I'd like to see you try," Shinji retorted as he unsheathed his blade.

* * *

End of OST Scene

* * *

Ichigo immediately charged at Shinji and, once he was close enough he made a vertical chop that would've cut Shinji in half had he not blocked the attack with his zanpakuto, cauing the two combatants to lock blades together.

"You don't have nearly enough strength to force us to train you, Ichigo. You might as well-" Shinji said before he sensed someone closing in on him from his right.

Shinji turned to look that way and was surprised to see that Naruto was now charging at him.

"Ichigo's not alone, you idiot!" Naruto yelled as he attempted to slash at Shinji with Kenja in her sealed state.

Shinji immediately pushed Ichigo away from him, ending that deadlock, before jumping back several feet which allowed him to dodge Naruto's attack though only after the shinobi's blade got to within millimeters of hitting him. To the Visored's surprise Naruto then **threw** the small blade at the Visored who easily dodged that attack; before he could open his mouth to retort, however, Shinji saw that a there rope attached to the end of the knife that connected it to something underneath the right sleeve of Naruto's shihakusho.

"_That guy must've learned how to use his spiritual energy in order to change the length of that rope which is why he was able to throw the blade; he's even more skilled than I thought he would be. That doesn't explain why he threw his weapon at me like that, however,_" Shinji thought to himself though he would soon wish that he hadn't gotten the answer to that question.

Before the Visored knew what was going on Naruto grabbed the end of the rope and pulled it back, causing the tri-pronged kunai at the end of the rope to follow suit.

"I got you," Naruto said with smirk as he made a hand seal.

"What the-?" was all Shinji could say before he heard a weird sound coming from behind.

Shinji turned around and was horrified by what he saw: four pieces of paper floating in the air, all of which had strange writing that centered around the kanji for 'explode'. The leader of the Visored realized what that meant but before he could react the pieces of paper suddenly and violently exploded. As the blast subsided it appeared to everyone that Shinji had been caught in the blast; fortunately for the Visoreds their de facto leader eventually jumped out of the emerging column of smoke. Though Shinji had evaded death the explosives had done their deal of damage as his left arm, which was the part of the Visored closest to the explosions, was badly burnt and was unusable for the rest of the fight.

As Shinji turned to face Naruto was rather impressed, though annoyed, with the ninja's improvisation.

"Now I get... at some point before you came here you attached those explosive strips of paper to the rope that's tied to your zanpakuto but it was tied loose enough so that they would separate from the rope with enough tension. When you threw your blade and pulled it back the tension was enough to separate the tags from said rope, allowing you to detonate them without risking any chance of damaging your zanpakuto. Am I right?" Shinji as he pointed his blade at Naruto.

"That's right and it looks like it worked since you now have only one arm to fight me with; why don't we just finish this fight already, Shinji Hirako?" Naruto said as he prepared to release his shikai.

Before Naruto could release that shikai, however, the space around Naruto and Shinji suddenly shattered like a panel of glass, revealing that Naruto and Shinji had been placed in a barrier of some sort; the moment that barrier shattered happened Naruto was suddenly felt sharp changes occuring in Ichigo's spiritual pressure.

Naruto turned around and was surprised at what he saw; Ichigo was lying on the floor, with pieces what Naruto recognized as fragments of a hollow mask on the floor above Ichigo's face, while Kurama and three of the other Visoreds pinned him down. What was probably the most unusual part of this scene, however, were the other three Visoreds; two of them were lying on the floor, unconcious, while the third was sitting down with her back to the wall and appeared as if she was frozen in fear which, based on her gaze, had something with Ichigo or, as Naruto quickly guessed, his Inner Hollow.

Naruto's eyes narrowed at Shinji upon seeing this; even if he and the Visored were placed in a barrier it didn't explain how he failed to sense any drastic changes in anyone's spiritual until that barrier was undone.

"What the hell happened? And how come I didn't sense it?" Naruto asked Shinji as the man, who already sheathed his blade, walked towards the others while holding his injured arm.

"The reason is rather simple; we already figured that you and the Tailed Beast were going to tag along with Ichigo whether he wanted you to come or not so we took precautions. In order to test Ichigo's strength without your interference, I made the dumb decision to place you and me in a special Kido barrier that placed us in a pocket dimension so that you didn't realized what was happening; I left Kurama outside in case something went wrong on that end. Had I known I was going to get my ass handed to me like this, however, I would of just let you get involved. Enough about that, though; if you don't mind I need to speak with Ichigo, Mr..?" Shinji said rather nonchalantly.

Naruto sighed at this explanation, since he felt as though he had been played for a fool, before he finally introduced himself.

"Naruto Uzumaki," he said in annoyance. Shinji nodded at the blond-haired Uzumaki before walking towards Ichigo.

At this point Kurama, who had gotten off of Ichigo walked over to Naruto as Shinji began speaking to the Ichigo and his fellow Visoreds.

"What the hell happened to you guys?" Naruto asked Kurama as his Tailed Beast sheathed his sword.

"That brat cowering in fear right now made the mistake of forcing Ichigo's Inner Hollow out into the surface after two of those Visoreds try to stall me; I knocked one of them out while Ichigo's Inner Hollow knocked another of them unconcious. I had to work with the remaining Visoreds just to bring him down since I'm too deep in this town to use any of my tails," Kurama explained.

Naruto simply nodded before the two heard Shinji's voice.

"Ichigo Kurosaki... you passed the test. As soon as we get patched up we'll teach you how to control that Inner Hollow of yours," he declared.

"_That damned Shinji better know what he's dealing with or things will get far worse than what the others saw,_" Kurama thought to himself as he and Naruto prepared for whatever mess they've gotten themselves into...

Next Time – The Battle Within: Ichigo vs. Inner Hollow, Part 1


	20. 18: The Battle Within

**Chapter 18 – The Battle Within: Ichigo vs. Inner Hollow, Part 1**

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Disclaimer: Still Applies

[Visored Hideout, Karakura Town]

_Current Time…_

Naruto's felt his eyes twitched at the scene before them while Kurama did a facepalm at witnessing the same sight; they had expected the Visoreds to be a strange bunch but they could never have anticipated the sheer stupidity that now confronted their very eyes. It had only been a few hours since Naruto and Kurama had arrived at the Visored's hideout alongside Ichigo who had hoped to learn how to control his inner hollow from them; after their initial scuffle Shinji, who was indeed the leader of the Visoreds, agreed to help Ichigo control the demon lurking within him.

And what did the Visored do to start Ichigo off on his potentially lethal training regimen?

They had Ichigo step onto a homemade exercise machine which one of the Visored, a short angry blond-haired girl named Hiyori, apparently took great pride in the machine and told him to run on it for three days straight. Ichigo had been running on said machine while the Visoreds simply sat nearby conversing among themselves. Naruto and Kurama, not surprisingly, were less than amused by what they were seeing.

Before either of the two Chakra Realm residents could voice his annoyance Ichigo, who was just as irritated by this "training" as his companions were, suddenly threw the very machine he was using at Hiyori... who used forcibly use Shinji as a shield to protect herself.

"What the hell are you doing, dumbass?! Try something like that again and you're dead!" Hiyori roared with even Shinji saying something in agreement with the short-tempered girl despite the fact that she had just used him as a human shield.

"I should be saying that to you, snaggletooth! You Visoreds bragged about how you were going to teach me how to control my Inner Hollow once and for all! So why the [expletive] hell are you idiots making me run on this cheap sorry excuse for a homemade elliptical machine?! No wait, scratch that. You're not the idiots; I'm the idiot for even listening to you!" Ichigo ranted in pure anger.

Hiyori didn't take to kindly to the Substitute Soul Reaper's attitude.

"You are an idiot if you think that it's an elliptical machine! It's the Hiyori Super Trainer, dumbass, and you-" Hiyori roared back before she was suddenly interrupted by Naruto, not to anyone's surprise.

"It's a homemade piece of crap and a complete waste of our time, you shrimp!" Naruto yelled out as he stepped into the "conversation".

"What did you just say, you whiskered dumbass?!" Hiyori roared at the young Leaf genin.

"You heard me; if you've got a problem with that why don't you do something about it?!" Naruto roared back.

Hiyori smirked darkly at Naruto's challenge.

"Bring it on, dumbass!" Hiyori roared.

"Count me in on this!" Ichigo roared as he and Naruto prepared to duke it out with Hiyori.

Just when it appeared that the three hotheads were about to kill each other, however, Kurama, who had enough of Hiyori's attitude (and the with the antics of the Visoreds in general), got behind Hiyori and placed his left hand on her right shoulder. Before Hiyori was able to react to this move Kurama pinched a pressure point on Hiyori's shoulder; as soon as the Tailed Beast did that Hiyori fell to the floor as she had been knocked unconcious by him.

Kurama then turned to face the Visoreds and his companions as they looked at him with surprised expressions on their faces.

"Someone had to go in and end the madness and the only way to do that was to knock out either her or these two morons; since I'm assuming that the rest of you Visoreds can help with Ichigo's training I choose to knock her out," Kurama casually explained to the group as if it were no big deal.

It might as well have been no big deal since the Naruto, Ichigo, and Visoreds either shrugged or did nothing in response to his explanation. When it was clear that no one was going to raise an objection to Kurama's actions the Tailed beast turned his attention to Shinji.

"If you guys are having Ichigo do this little exercise for the reason that I think you are then you should know that it's only a waste of everyone's valuable time," Kurama said in a serious tone.

Shinji raised an eyebrow at the Tailed Beast's comment but didn't say anything; Kurama assumed that Shinji's silence was a cue for him to continue speaking which he did.

"You said earlier that he had to run on that... thing... for three days straight before he could continue with the next stage of his training; I'm assuming that this means that Ichigo needs a certain amount of spiritual energy before he begin to learn how to control his inner hollow. If that's the case, however, then there's no real point in this exercise; the fact that all of you have supposedly learned to control your inner hollows already despite the fact that many of you clearly have less spiritual pressure than he does, as well as the fact that he has the interest of you Visoreds in the first place, means that he already has the amount of power needed to learn how to control that inner hollow of his. Am I right?" Kurama said to the de facto leader of the Visoreds.

Ichigo, upon hearing the Tailed Beast's claim, was about to open his mouth to speak before Shinji flash stepped to the young Kurosaki with his right hand up in the face of the Substitute Soul Reaper. Shinji flashed his typical smile before he commented on Kurama's reasoning.

"Your a very perceptive guy, Kurama, to have figured that out so quickly; just what I would expect the so-called 'Nine-Tailed Fox'. (he turns to face Ichigo) I was also hoping to use that time to let you get used to us; seeing as how you've already awakened both you're Shikai and Bankai, however, it's obvious you do have the strength needed for the next step. Maybe we should just go right into teaching you how to control your Inner Hollow, Ichigo, just like you originally asked us to. I hope your ready or you'll definitely regret this," Shinji said as a white light began to glow from his outstretched hand.

Before Ichigo could even react to Shinji's voice the young Kurosaki suddenly felt a sense of disorientation before he fell to the floor, unconcious. As Shinji closed Ichigo's glassy eyes a shocked Naruto suddenly turned to face the Visored.

"Why the hell did you that for?!" the young Uzumaki asked incredulously.

Shinji turned to face the ninja with a rather serious expression etched onto his face.

"So that he can fight his Inner Hollow; that's what the main part of his training is for. I'm certain that you, as a jinchuriki, had to do something similar when you first tried to learn how to use Kurama's power, right?" Shinji pointed out to Naruto.

Naruto simply nodded at what Shinji had said as he realized what the man was referring to. When Shinji and the other Visoreds were still recovering from their respective scuffles with Naruro, Kurama, and the partially-Hollowfied Ichigo the young Uzumaki had gotten into a conversation with Shinji and a few of the other Visoreds and, as the ninja had suspected, he found that these guys were very similar to both him and the other Jinchuriki back in his world; it was only natural, Naruto had assumed, that the Visored's methods of learning how to control their own Inner Hollows were not much different from the ones that he, Killer Bee, and any other Jinchuriki would use to learn how to control their respective Tailed Beasts.

Naruto got out of his thoughts when he heard Shinji asking one of the other Visoreds, a very large man with pink hair named Hachigen (or, as Naruto and Kurama found out, "Hachi" for short), to erect a barrier around the entire warehouse; after Hachi had done so the all of the Visoreds (Shinji was now carrying the unconcious Hiyori over his shoulder) then walked over to a spot in the warehouse that then lifted up, much to the surprise of both Naruto and Kurama, revealing a hidden passageway.

"If you two are going to help Ichigo out then get over here already; Ichigo's real training is about to begin," Shinji said to the Chakra Realm duo.

Once the entire group was assembled in front of the passageway they then entered the dark corridor...

_Thirty Minutes Later..._

"Is this level of security specifically for Ichigo or is this standard for any Visored?" Kurama asked the aforementioned group with curiosity.

Hachi was the one to answer him.

"The first barrier I placed outside of our home in addition to the Kido pinning young Kurosaki to the floor are standard for all of the Visored; the second barrier, on the other hand, is something new. I have a feeling that we're going to need it anyways considering what you've told us about the power of Ichigo's Inner Hollow," the former lieutenant of the Kido Corps explained.

Kurama nodded in response to the man's response as he knew what was about to come.

After Kurama, Naruto, and the Visoreds finally emerged from the other side of the hallway, with Ichigo and Hiyori (both of whom were still unconcious) in tow, they ended up within a massive training that looked exactly like the one under Kisuke's shop, much to the surprise of both of Ichigo's companions. After laying Hiyori on the floor a considerable distance away the Visoreds then did the same with Ichigo's motionless form while leaving Zangetsu next to the Substitute; despite Naruto's protest Shinji claimed that this would slow down the rate of Ichigo's Hollowfication which, along with Kurama's backing of the Visored, got Naruto to go along with the plan of the former Captain of the 5th Division. Hachi, upon Shinji's orders, then erected another barrier around Ichigo before restraining him with two Kido spells, Sajō Sabaku & Gochūtekkan, which Shinji said was only to give the first person to fight the soon to be- Hollowfied Ichigo a chance to ready themselves (A/N: In the canon version of Ichigo's Visored Training Hachi only uses Gochūtekkan; since they're dealing with Ichigo's 2nd Hollow Form, however, the need for extra restraints is a given).

As far as who would fight first Shinji had asked Kurama to do so as he and Naruto had experience fighting Ichigo's Hollowfied Form; as he was unable to use most of his chakra Kurama agreed to fight in the beginning so that the other Visoreds could get an idea on how to best fight the Hollowfied entity. After the other Visoreds, minus Hiyori and Hachi, engaged the Inner Hollow, Naruto, who was able to use more of his strength than Kurama could, would round out the cycle.

As the group just outside of the barrier waited for the Inner Hollow break out Naruto turned to speak with his longtime companion.

"Hey Kurama, I forgot to ask you something; how much of your strength are able to use now?" Naruto asked with a bit of concern in his voice.

Kurama simply waved off his Jinchuriki's worries as he responded.

"Don't worry about me, Naruto; I'm able to use a bit more of my chakra. Like I've said before I should be at full strength in less than a week from now and, besides, I can handle this. I may not look like it right now but remember that I'm still the Nine-Tailed Fox," Kurama casually explained away causing Naruto to let out a heavy sigh.

When Kurama had revealed to Naruto that he had regained his missing Yin Chakra shortly after the first battle with the Hollowfied Kurosaki a day earlier he explained that, as the Tailed Beast was still adjusting to his Human Form, he could not use all of his power, regardless of whether he was using his tailed or not, at once for the time being; when he had used his Six-Tailed form, for example, he was only able to use 75% of the full power of that form as he was only able to use a part of his Yin Chakra. Despite Kurama's attempts to assure Naruto that this would no longer be a problem after another week or so Naruto was still worried that his friend might not have enough power to face Ichigo even if the wasn't fully Hollowfied.

Before Naruto could question him any further, however, a massive release of spiritual pressure began to emanate from Ichigo's unconcious body. Shinji, who had been deep in thought for a while, slowly lifted his head which revealed a grim expression etched onto face.

"Here **IT **comes; I hope you're right about what you've just said... Kurama," Shinji said rather darkly, underscoring the seriousness of the situation.

As the energy emanating from Ichigo began to grow larger and darker the two Kido restraints binding Ichigo began to creak and shake under the strain. Despite Hachi's efforts to hold it together the gray pillars of the Gochūtekkan began to crack and break apart until, after a few minutes of struggling, the pillars exploded in a mass of energy. With "Ichigo" now only being restrained by the glowing chains of the weakening Sajō Sabaku spell it was only a matter of time before the Hollowfied Ichigo broke free.

At this moment Kurama, who had already unsheathed his blade, approached the barrier that would form the main line of defense between the possessed Ichigo and the outside world.

"You can open the barrier, Hachigen; I'll take it from here," Kurama said rather calmly.

Hachi nodded in response to the Kurama's request before he opened a part of the barrier to allow the Tailed Beast to enter the area where Ichigo was being contained; once Kurama was fully within the barrier Hachi quickly closed the barrier behind him.

"Good luck, Kurama!" Naruto cheered on, which the Tailed Beast heard just before the barrier closed behind him, in an almost childish manner;Kurama responded to this by turning his head slightly to the right to allow his right eye to face Naruto.

The Tailed Beast simply nodded and turned to face "Ichigo" just as he finally broke free of the Sajō Sabaku's chains. When "Ichigo" stood up and grabbed his zanpakuto, the release form was immediately changed to it's bankai, Kurama finally got a good look at what he was dealing with.

Ichigo, as Shinji had warned, had already begun to Hollowfy but, as it was still in the beginning stages, it was still imcomplete as only parts of Ichigo that had Hollowfied were his right arm (which was now holding Ichigo's Tensa Zangetsu) as well as the right sides of Ichigo's face (with the right horn of Hollow Ichigo's mask having already formed), neck, upper torso, and his two eyes which were now completely black in color. The rest of his body was still, for the time being, untouched by the Hollowfication and was now covered by the bankai version of his Soul Reaper shihakusho.

Kurama stared at the partially transformed Kurosaki as he pointed his katana at said opponent.

"Now then... let's get started," the Tailed Beast said.

The Kurosaki's Inner Hollow, who had simply been breathing heavily, yet slowly, during the short standoff with the Tailed Beast simply stood there for a few seconds before he vanished; Kurama, realizing that "Ichigo" had just used Sonido, held his sword over his left shoulder just in time to block a slash from the possessed Substitute, who had tried to attack the Tailed Beast from behind, that would've otherwise drove right through his heart. The Tailed Beast then sent the possessed Ichigo flying after he applied some of his chakra to increase the strength of his slash; even though he couldn't use any of his Tailed Beast forms Kurama wasn't completely unable to use his chakra and, as he was about to show everyone present, he had still had plenty of tricks up the short sleeves of the white shirt that he wore under his duster.

As "Ichigo" continued flying through the air while trying to regain his footing Kurama turned and then drew in an unnaturally large breath with left him slightly bloated as he held that air in for a few seconds; Naruto was especially confused by this as he knew that Kurama appeared to be attempting to use his Tailed Beast Roar despite the fact that he needed to at least be in his One-Tailed Form in order to use that attack.

"_What are you doing, Kurama?_" Naruto thought to himself.

The answer came when Kurama finally exhaled releasing, to everyone's disbelief, a massive and intense stream of fire right at the partially Hollowfied Ichigo!

"KURAMA CAN ACTUALLY BREATH FIRE?! HOW THE [EXPLETIVE] HELL DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS?!" Naruto yelled out in a comically shocked tone, with the expression to match spread across his face; the Visoreds were just as taken aback by this to the point that Hachi almost lost enough focus to cause his Kido barrier to dissipate before he snapped out of his shock.

(A/N: In Naruto Shippuden Episode 167 Kurama was able to breath fire in his Eight-Tailed state... so, no, it's not 100% canon but I didn't make this up myself either)

The partially Hollowfied Ichigo, meanwhile, had managed to regain his footing as he now tried to block Kurama's intense flames with the blade of his bankai; as the intense heat of the flames were enough to turn the ground just below the attack into glass, however, it was eventually to much for even Hollow Ichigo to hold back and he was eventually engulfed by the searing flames.

After about four minutes the flames finally dissipated, revealing a badly burned, but still breathing, "Ichigo" lying on the floor which had also turned into glass. As Kurama, who thought that the partially Hollowfied Ichigo would stay on the ground for at least ten minutes, was about to unsheathe his sword when he saw that his opponent was already beginning to heal, much to his surprise; Kurama was unaware of the fact that Ichigo's Inner Hollow had high-speed regeneration capabilities as his slightly corrosive Tailed Beast Forms had kept those abilities in check.

"You should've stayed down; I guess it can't be helped, though," Kurama said as "Ichigo" stood up, preparing to continue his little rampage...

[Ichigo's Inner World]

_At The Same Time…_

As Kurama began to fight with the Hollowfying Ichigo the orange-haired Soul Reaper, who still had his zanpakuto in its shikai state, stood face to face with his Inner Hollow in the skyscraper-filled space that was his spiritual state. Though the Inner Hollow looked like a scary horned demon outside of Ichigo's soul the "demon" was surprisingly much more human in his true appearance... for the most part.

Hollow Ichigo was virtually identical to Ichigo in shape and form; unlike Ichigo, however, the Inner Hollow had white and hair, yellow eyes with black pupils and sclera, and had a psychotic grin on his face. His Soul Reaper shihakusho had an inverse color scheme to that of Ichigo's; the undergarments, hakama-himo sash, and rosary-like strap were black in color while his kosode top and hakama pants were white in color.

Hollow Ichigo, naturally, already knew the reason behind Ichigo's presence and was apparently looking forward to their inevitable battle if his wider-than-normal smirk was an indication of anything.

"_Hey. Long time no see... 'king',_" Hollow Ichigo greeted in a mocking tone; the Inner Hollow's greeting was only met with silence on the part of Ichigo as a light wind blew across the sideof the skyscraper that they were standing on.

"_What's the matter? You're look awfully glum,_" the Inner Hollow asked Ichigo only to be met with silence yet again.

Ichigo look to both his right and left as if he was looking for something, or someone, before he finally spoke.

"_Where the hell is Old Man Zangetsu?_" Ichigo asked coldly.

The Substitute gritted his teeth in anger when his Inner Hollow only widened his smirk.

"_Answer me, you bastard-_" Ichigo snarled before his Inner Hollow cut him off.

"_I'm confused... That 'Zangetsu' thing you're talking about... isn't it the one that you're holding... in your hand?_" the Inner Hollow asked rhetorically while pointing his left finger at the said zanpakuto. The Inner Hollow grabbed reached for something on his back before he continued speaking.

"_Or... are you talking about the one... that I'm holding in mine?_" the Inner Hollow asked, once again in a rhetorically, as he revealed the mysterious object on his back.

Ichigo was shocked to see that his Inner Hollow was holding his own version of Zangetsu; just like the being who was wielding it this version of Zangetsu had an inverse color scheme to the one Ichigo was holding, having a white blade while both the edge and cloth covered tang were black.

"_A white Zangetsu...!_" Ichigo thought as a bead of sweat rolled down his face.

"_You asked me where Zangetsu is, right? Well then... here's your answer,_" the Inner Hollow said before he vanished after said demon used an unknown high-speed technique (Ichigo couldn't tell if it was either a Sonido or a Flash Step).

Hollow Ichigo then appeared right above Kurosaki's head as swung his blade downward in an attempt to chop the Soul Reaper in half... while finally answering Ichigo's question.

"_I AM... ZANGETSU!_" the Inner Hollow roared maniacally just as Ichigo barely managed to block the demon's white Zangetsu with his own black Zangetsu.

As one could imagine Ichigo was left in complete shock by this revelation...

Next Time – The Lost Resolve: Ichigo vs. Inner Hollow, Part 2


	21. 19: The Lost Resolve

**Chapter 19 – The Lost Resolve: Ichigo vs. Inner Hollow, Part 2**

**A/N # 1: This story is now a year old! It has come a long way since last year, huh? I thank all of you readers for your support and I hope that you continue to support this story.**

Please keep sending Faves, Follows, and Reviews

Disclaimer: Still Applies

This Chapter has an OST Scene.

[Secret Training Area, Visored Hideout, Karakura Town]

_Current Time…_

While Ichigo was fighting is Inner Hollow from within, Kurama had been busy keeping the possessed Kurosaki in check from without which was not an easy task since the Tailed Beast had to be careful not to kill an opponent who was getting more powerful with each second Ichigo was unable to defeat his demon. Thankfully for Kurama, and everyone else in the training area, the possessed Kurosaki's power was growing at a much slower pace than the Visoreds had anticipated which was made all the more obvious by the fact that Ichigo's Hollowfication process had not spread much farther across Ichigo's body than when the process had begun. Even with this respite, however, it was only a matter of time before the Hollowfication process would begin to speed up.

Kurama, who was busy trying not to get killed in this battle, obviously had no time to think about these issues as he dodged and parried a flurry of slashes from the partially Hollowfied Ichigo. After dodging a thrust from the possessed Substitute Kurama, taking advantage of this opening his opponent gave him, closed in on the Hollowfied Kurosaki and kneed him in the gut which sent the entity flying for several yards before he regained his footing.

The Tailed Beast flashed a smirk as he channeled some of his chakra through his left arm.

"I guess this'll be a good time as any to try this out... seeing as how I've already tried out my fire attack," Kurama said to himself out loud.

Before his opponent could try to stop him Kurama slammed the palm of his chakra enhanced arm into the ground which, to the shock of the already stunned Naruto and Visoreds, generated a large tornado that he sent hurtling towards the possessed Ichigo.

"HE CAN USE WIND ATTACKS TOO?! WHAT THE HELL?!" Naruto yelled out; the young Uzumaki, to put it lightly, was being taken aback by these previously unknown (to Naruto, anyways) attacks that Kurama appeared to pull from out of nowhere.

(A/N: As with his ability to breath fire Kurama was also able to use this attack in Naruto Shippuden Episode 167 so it's at least partially canon; as a word of warning, however, there are some details about this attack that I added myself)

While the group sitting outside of the barrier was fortunate enough to only have to watch the damage wrought by chakra-generated tornado fate was obviously not so kind to "Ichigo" as the Hollowfied entity suddenly found himself trapped within the powerful vortex.

While getting sucked into a normal twister would be a bad experience for anyone the one Kurama unleashed was especially brutal as it came with a nasty surprise; within the massive vortex there was a series of blades made of pure wind chakra that could cut up anything that was unfortunate enough to get trapped inside... like Hollowfied Ichigo who was getting lacerated right and left every second he was in the vortex. The possessed Kurosaki was only spared from complete dismemberment and certain due to his high-speed regeneration ability though he was still had severe damage all across his body, regardless of whether or not that area of the body was already hollowfied.

After a couple of minutes the tornado, which had torn up the landscape and nearly caused Hachi's barrier to fail multiple times, finally dissipated and revealed a partially-hollowfied Ichigo, who looked as though he had been mauled by a pack of wild animals due to his injuries, lying on the floor and temporarily unconcious.

"Oops... maybe I went a little overboard with that attack," Kurama said to himself as he returned into his fighting stance just in case the possessed Substitute Soul Reaper began to regenerate faster than the Tailed Beast had anticipated.

Just as Kurama readied himself, however, he felt two figures approaching from behind; the Tailed Beast didn't appear to visibly contrary to what one might've thought he would do.

"Is it time already?" Kurama asked the two figures as he finally turned to face the two figures who Tailed Beast assumed were now going to fight the partially Hollowfied Ichigo.

One of the two had the appearance of a young adult woman with turquoise eyes, red oval glasses and long black hair which formed bangs in the front and that was pulled back into a braided ponytail; she wore a sailor fuku outfit with a teal green/blue collar and matching pleated miniskirt that ends at her stomach, complete with a pink neckerchief. The other person also had the appearance of a young woman, though one with short lime green hair and hazel eyes. She was wearing a white bodysuit with orange gloves, boots and scarf, along with a set of goggles that sat atop her hair.

Kurama was surprised at the two females; though he knew that they were clearly no pushovers strong he wasn't sure if they could handle an opponent of this level. The black-haired female could tell that was on the Tailed Beast's mind if what she said next was any proof of that.

"We'll be fine; don't underestimate what we Visoreds are capable of," the woman said rather bluntly which caused Kurama to sigh.

"Even so, stay on your guard... or you'll get yourselves killed," Kurama warned as he exited the barrier.

Once the Tailed Beast had taken a seat next to Naruto (a bad decision on Kurama's part as he now had to endure an endless stream of question from his jinchuriki) the two female Visoreds turned to face "Ichigo" just as the wounds he sustained from began to heal. The black-haired woman unsheathed her blade, which resembled a nodachi with a dark blue hilt wrapping and a square tsuba with two rectangular attachments on two ends, while the green haired girl, who wasn't wielding a weapon, simply struck some sort of weird, at least to Naruto and Kurama, pose as she introduced herself to the possessed Kurosaki.

"I'm Mashiro Kuna and I'm here fight you, Berry Boy," the now-named Mashiro said as she got into a fighting stance.

"And I'm Lisa Yadōmaru; nice to meet you," the now-named Lisa said as she pointed her blade at the Hollowfied Ichigo.

As the possessed Kurosaki's healing began to accelerate Naruto, who took note of this change as he had stopped questioning Kurama, had one thought running through his mind.

"_And I probably have to face his inner hollow when he's already at the level that I fought him last time. You have to beat that thing and fast, Ichigo,_" Naruto thought to himself as Lisa and Mashiro braced themselves for a fight...

[Ichigo's Inner World]

_Meanwhile..._

"_Where the hell is Zangetsu?!_" Kurosaki asked at his Inner Hollow yet again as he dodged as barrage of attacks from his inner demon before blocking another of the Inner Hollow's vertical chops.

"_You really are persistent; how many times are you going to make me repeat myself? I've already told you that I'm Zangetsu!_" Hollow Ichigo roared before he pushed Ichigo back; as the two combatants were in midair this caused Ichigo to fall and crash into the face of one his Inner World's many skyscrapers.

As Ichigo got back up his Inner Hollow appeared a few yards away with his Zangetsu resting over shoulders.

"_Ichigo, I don't know if you understand or not,...but, Zangetsu and I have always been one and the same. Both Zangetsu and I are a part of your spiritual power, and I was apart of Zangetsu! We all share the same body, and whenever the 'dominant' person changes, the outer appearance also changes. When one is dominated by 'life', one is flesh. When one is dominated by 'death', one becomes bones. It's the same reasoning here. My power expanded so the ruling power went to me. And because of this, Zangetsu became a part of me instead. So the more you try to use Zangetsu's power, the easier it is for me to control your soul!_" Hollow Ichigo explained to which the Substitute responded by narrowed his eyes.

"_Is that so? Then that means that if I defeat you here then Old Man Zangetsu will once again become the center of my spiritual energy,_" Ichigo deduced. His Inner Hollow simply smirked at this claim.

"_That makes sense... in theory. But you won't win,_" Hollow Ichigo said in a rather smug tone. Ichigo gritted his teeth in anger at this.

"_Don't be so sure about that, you bastard! I wonder how confident you'll after you see this!_" Ichigo said as he got into bankai's release stance.

Hollow Ichigo, who appeared as if he was getting annoyed with Ichigo's defiance, simply entered the same stance that the orange-haired teenager was in.

"_You just don't get it do you? It's not like you might beat me; you can't beat me,_" Hollow Ichigo claimed as he sprouted yet another of his large psychotic grins.

After a few minutes of tense slience Ichigo and his Inner Hollow finally decided to invoke their trump cards.

"_BANKAI!_"

_With Naruto, Kurama, and the Visoreds…_

It had been almost fifty minutes since Lisa and Mashiro had taken over for Kurama in dealing with "Ichigo" and, needless to say, it was becoming very clear for the Visoreds why Naruto had nearly been killed by Substitute when he had been possessed by his Inner Hollow the previous afternoon. Around the time Lisa and Mashiro had been replaced by the next person, a grey-haired and very temperamental man named Kensei, Ichigo's Hollowfication process, which had been rather slow for the first twenty minutes, finally began to accelerate its pace.

By the time Shinji, who was the "sixth" opponent (technically the seventh as Mashiro and Lisa fought as a team) to face "Ichigo", was at the end of his 10-minute run Ichigo had Hollowifed to the point where his appearance was exactly as it was during that infamous battle. Speaking of Shinji he was nearly at the point of being overwhelmed by the power of the being before him; as the power of the Hollowfied Kurosaki was at a level higher than most of the high-ranked Espadas, however, this was something that was to be expected.

Just as Shinji, who had just barely managed to dodge a cero that the possessed Ichigo had launched at him, prepared to release his zanpakuto he was taken aback when "Ichigo" was suddenly blown back by a strong gust of wind. Shinji turned to his right, the same direction from which the gust had come from, and was surprised to see that Naruto had suddenly entered the fray... with his shikai, no less.

"Your time's up, Shinji; it's my turn," Naruto said. Shinji raised an eyebrow at this.

"Already? Time flew by rather quickly. (he sighs) just try not to kill him in the process of fighting him, alright?" Shinji warned the young Uzumaki; after receiving a nod from Naruto the de facto leader of the Visoreds immediately exited the barrier, leaving Naruto to deal with the possessed Kurosaki. As he got into his fighting stance he could hear Kenja's voice speaking out to him.

"_Naruto... I know that you don't wish to seriously hurt Ichigo but you might want to use Nine-Tails Chakra Mode; you don't want to get yourself killed, after all,_" the zanpakuto spirit said to him.

"_Thanks for your advice, Kenja__... but you don't have to worry about me; I planned on doing that anyways,_" Naruto explained to the winged being that dwelled within his soul; Naruto entered said form, taking the Visoreds by surprise in the process, as Kenja gave a light smile that Naruto.

"_I know but I still had to say it. In any case, I think that Hollow Ichigo character is waiting for us to make the first move so let's oblige him, shall we?_" Kenja said as if it was some sort of invitation for her young wielder.

As if responding to his zanpakuto's little request Naruto flash stepped in front "Ichigo" and smacked him in the gut with a horizontal swing; the speed and momentum of his attack, which was enhanced by the use of Kurama's chakra, coupled with the added weight of the metal plating on the ends of the Uzumaki's staff sent the Hollowfied Substitute flying into the air with enough momentum to crash into, and nearly break, Hachi's barrier. This stunt, not surprisingly, caused several of the now irritated Visoreds to yell at Naruto to be more cautious, with some of the warning being ruder than others, despite the fact that the barrier prevented Naruto from hearing any of those warnings.

Kurama, meanwhile, sighed at the Visored's futile attempts to warn his jinchuriki before he turned his attention back to the fight.

"You better hurry, Ichigo; if you fail to defeat your inner hollow before Naruto's ten minutes are up... Shinji and the others will be forced to kill you," Kurama muttered to himself under his breath just as the possessed Kurosaki, who had already got up on his feet, began attacking the blond Uzumaki.

_ With Ichigo…_

Ichigo's fight with his Inner Hollow was not going very well to say the least. After both combatants released their respective bankais (with Ichigo wielding a black Tensa Zangetsu while Hollow Ichigo wielded a white variant of the same blade) Hollow Ichigo began kicking Ichigo's ass left and right. All of Ichigo's attacks were having no effect on his opponent; even his black Getsuga Tensho was useless against the Inner Hollow whereas Hollow Ichigo's enhanced Getsuga, which was white in color, had badly injured Ichigo who was severely weakened.

To complicate matters even further Ichigo had been pulled deeper into his conscience during the battle twice. The first time, which occurred just before Ichigo was hit by his Inner Hollow's Getsuga, the Substitute Soul Reaper was forced to fight a manisfestation of Byakuya that dwelled within his soul, much to Ichigo's confusion, and was easily defeated before he was pulled back into the battle with his Inner Hollow.

The second incident occurred after Hollow Ichigo stabbed Ichigo in the gut after he had shattered the young Kurosaki's bankai with his bare hands. In this case he was confronted by a manisfestation of Kenpachi which Ichigo, after a small dialogue with the crazed captain, realized represented his fighting instincts and desire to win his battles. When Ichigo realized that he had lost his fighting instinct, as he now needed reasons to fight his opponents, those fighting instincts managed to come roaring back.

This became all the more obvious to Ichigo's Inner Hollow when the black Tensa Zangetsu that he had previously destroyed suddenly reappeared in Ichigo's hand as if it had always been there.

"_What the-?_" Hollow Ichigo before he felt his opponent's blade slashing his chest which left a bleeding diagonal gash across the Inner Hollow's entire chest.

Before Ichigo could do anymore damage, however, the Inner Hollow jumped back several yards to avoid any further surprises. Despite his wound, or perhaps because of it (as this was Ichigo's Inner Hollow it was probably the latter), the Inner Hollow's psychotic grin grew even wider.

"_Well, well, well... it appears that you still have some of that killer instinct left within you. Too bad for you, though... because it looks like it's not going to be enough to stop me!_" the Inner Hollow roared as he began building up yet another white Getsuga, preparing to destroy the now-exhausted Ichigo once and for all.

"_Damn it! Why couldn't I finish him off with that attack? Why can't I beat this bastard?!_" Ichigo thought to himself as he closed his eyes in his frustration; he could've never imagined how he was going to find his answer.

"_It's because you've lost more than just your fighting instincts, Ichigo,_" a voice said.

Ichigo, whose now opened eyes widened almost instantly upon recognizing that voice; the young Kurosaki looked up and was shocked to see a familiar face... a familiar whisker-marked face.

"_Na-Naruto?! What the hell are you doing here?!_" Ichigo demanded before he noticed that something was... off.

Ichigo had noticed that the Naruto standing before him had the same appearance that he did when he first arrived in the Soul Society, right down to the top of his tracksuit that Yumichika had destroyed (considering what type of outfit that the genin wore, however, it wasn't hard to notice those types of changes). Naruto wasn't the only thing that Ichigo recognized; after taking quick glance around the area around him Ichigo realized that he was in the crater where Naruto had died a couple of weeks before.

"_And why the are we here?!_"

Naruto sighed in response to Ichigo's constant questioning.

"_Isn't it obvious? You created a replica of me deep within your own soul, like you did with those the two other guys, because you still regret fighting me,_" "Naruto" explained; Ichigo was about to question the manifestation of Naruto when he suddenly remembered the events of the previous day... which caused Ichigo's body to suddenly freeze up.

"_I... I__ can't move; what the hell is going on? Why can't I move?_" Ichigo said to himself.

In his panic Ichigo failed to noticed that Naruto had activated his Full Tailed Beast Mode... until the Uzumaki clansman used a chakra arm to slam the Reaper into the ground.

"_You want to know why you can't move? It's because the holes in your heart won't let you let you move forward,_" Naruto pointed out in a rather vague manner.

* * *

OST:

"Senya" (Itachi's Theme from Naruto Shippuden) (link: www. youtube .com watch?v=v1zRYJoBUdU)

(after the .com add a slash symbol and don't forget to backspace the open spaces)

* * *

As Ichigo desperately tried break free from the shinobi's grasp, with nothing to show for his struggles, he was suddenly began to see flashes of events from his life up until that time; the memories of battle with Grand Fisher (the hollow who killed his mother), the time that Rukia was arrested, and his battles with Renji, Kenpachi, Byakuya, Yammy & Ulquiorra, Grimmjow, and Naruto all came rushing towards the forefront of his mind.

"_Do you understand what you're seeing, Ichigo? Every time you fight someone or you can't protect a friend you get filled with so many regrets that you practically give up, like you did after these events,_" Naruto explained to Ichigo as he retracted that chakra arm; this caused the still immobile Substitute's eyes to widen in shock.

"_Well guess what, Ichigo? You can't just give up like some coward; the moment Rukia gave you her powers you choose your path and, like it or not, it's not an easy path and it's sure as hell not a simple one... and it never will be. You're not the only one in this situation; I've fought people that I wish that I'd never had to, I've had moments where I've let others down, and I have my friends back home that I left behind. But you don't see me talking about that; if I stumble I pick myself up and try to not stumble again. If I let a friend down, I go and set things right; if they get hurt, I simply train harder so that I can protect them the next time they need me. If you don't have the will to do that... if you can't get past your pain and regrets... then how the hell do you plan on fighting Aizen and his damned Arrancars?_" Naruto asked.

That little speech apprently did what it was supposed to if the fact that Ichigo finally began to get off the ground was any indication.

"_I don't know how I'll do it... but I will stop that bastard and I will protect my friends from the likes of him; I know I can,_" Ichigo said in response; Naruto smirked at this response.

"_Then prove it... get your head out of your ass and show some backbone already!_" Naruto said as if were a challenge to the Soul Reaper.

* * *

OST Scene Ends

* * *

As soon as Naruto said that Ichigo found himself back in his Inner World and was immediately set upon by his Inner Hollow's enhanced white Getsuga... which Ichigo managed to easily deflect, much to the Hollowfied entity's surprise.

"_What the [expletive] did you just do?!_" the Inner Hollow asked incredulously as he prepared to use another Getsuga.

Before the Inner Hollow could do so, however, he looked at his white bankai and was shocked to see that it was now crumbling away. Before the loss of his weapon registered in the Inner Hollow's mind Ichigo immediately closed in on his opponent and stabbed him through his chest (this wound, curiously enough, caused Hollow Ichigo's shihakusho to turn black in color).

"_I'm sorry to break it to you but I managed to get my resolve back. By the way you were dead wrong about me not being strong enough to defeat you; not only could I do it... I just did,_" Ichigo said in a serious tone in his voice.

After a few seconds passed, during which Hollow Ichigo began to disintegrate just as his zanpakuto had, the Inner Hollow finally spoke... with his face once again sporting his psychotic grin.

"_What'd you know; I guess your not a hopeless case after all__. I wouldn't start celebrating if I were you, Ichigo, because this is far from over. We'll be fighting each again much sooner than you think... much, much sooner. Until that time comes you better take the time to hone whatever power and instincts you have left, 'King'... because you're going to need it,_" Hollow Ichigo said before he completely vanished from Ichigo's sight.

The victorious Ichigo, who was now staring into the ether in his skyscraper-filled spiritual state, breathed a sigh of relief as he felt the weight of the world lift off his shoulders.

"_I guess that's it... for_ _now,_" Ichigo said to himself before he was enveloped in a bright flash of light...

_Meanwhile..._

"Big Ball Rasengan!" Naruto roared as he tried to shoved a sphere three times the size of a normal Rasengan into the Hollowfied Ichigo's stomach.

The possessed Soul Reaper was able to get out of the path of the jutsu which ended up crashing into the ground and crating a large crater in the process. Realizing that the Inner Hollow was now going for an attack from behind Naruto immediately flash stepped several yards away from that spot and did it just in time to avoid getting impaled through the heart by the possessed Kurosaki.

"Damn, that was way too close," Naruto said to himself out loud as he began to build up some spiritual energy for an Idai.

Before Naruto could finish preparing the attack, however, his opponent was suddenly enveloped by a bright light as Hollowfied Ichigo began releasing a massive amount of spiritual pressure. Shinji, who quickly realized what was going, was swift to react to this turn of events.

"Get Naruto out of there now, Hachi!" Shinji yelled.

The former lieutenant of the Kido Corps wasted no time in creating an exit for Naruto who likewise made haste to get out of the barrier. Not a second had passed after Naruto got out of the barrier before a powerful explosion engulfed the space within the barrier. Once the explosion subsided, along with the clouds of dusts that the blast had left in its wake, the Visoreds, Kurama, and Naruto were surprised by what they saw.

Ichigo was standing in the center of the area within the barrier with his bankai still active while the bone-like material of his hollowfication was now lying on the ground as if it were a layer of skin that had been peeled off... with the exception of the Hollow mask which was virtually intact (the only thing that changed was that the mask no longer had the two horns that had been sticking out of it before).

Realizing that Ichigo had finally defeated his Inner Hollow and retook control of his soul Shinji ordered Hachi to release the barrier surrounding the young Substitute Soul Reaper. As soon as the barrier dissipated both Naruto and Kurama rushed to Ichigo's side just as the Soul Reaper placed his hand over his mask and used some sort of ripping motion to remove the mask.

"So you finally manage to beat that Inner Hollow of yours... how do you feel now?" Naruto asked with a smirk on his face.

Ichigo, despite being utterly exhausted as a result of his battle with his Inner Hollow, gave a smirk of his own as he gave his answer.

"Fine... not bad at all," he said; even though he still had some work to do before he could finish his training with the Visoreds, and a lot more work once he returned to his dad, the first, and undoubtedly the hardest, part of his training was finally over...

Next Time – Aizen's Plan: The Horrible Alternative!

A/N # 2: For those who may be wondering this I skipped the parts of this fight where Hollow Ichigo give his little speech about instincts as well as where Ichigo confronts the manifestations of Byakuya and Kenpachi within his mind as those were exactly like they were in canon and I didn't want to add too many copies of canon scenes. I also wanted to add my own unique twists and ending to this fight.


End file.
